Latest news with #peso
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Colombia inflation likely slowed in May, but up in full-year 2025: Reuters poll
BOGOTA, June 4 (Reuters) - Colombia's consumer price increases likely slowed slightly in May thanks to reduced pressure on food costs and the appreciation of the peso currency, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday, though inflation expectations for 2025 overall grew. According to the median estimate of the 19 analysts surveyed, inflation likely rose 0.4% in May, below the 0.66% rise in April. Projections ranged between 0.15% and 0.54%. "During May there were pressures on services associated with the continued indexation of rents, also of regulated goods, especially public services," said Carlos Alberto Velasquez, head of economic investigations at Alianza brokerage. "However, pressures on food and goods were kept contained in response to the favorable behavior of the exchange rate," he added, referring to the 2.86% appreciation of the peso against the dollar. If analysts' median prediction is met, 12-month inflation through May will have reached 5.12%, well above the central bank's long-term target of 3%. Inflation expectations for the close of this year were up in the poll to 4.8%, from 4.55% in the previous survey, which would mark the fifth consecutive year of annual inflation being above the target. Expectations for the close of 2026 were also up in the poll, to 3.75%, from 3.61% in the previous survey. Inflation was a top factor in the April decision by Colombia's central bank board to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 9.25%, surprising the market. Inflation figures for May will be published on June 9.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Carry Trades Roar Back Into Favor as Emerging Currencies Rally
Emerging market carry trades are taking off again, as currency volatility subsides amid signs President Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs may not get fully enacted. An index of carry returns — for which a trader borrows in a low-yielding currency and then invests in another offering higher returns, hit a seven-year high in late May. Asset managers have boosted long positions in developing-nation currencies in recent weeks, with those on Mexico's peso reaching a nine-month high, based on CME Group Inc. data.
Malay Mail
24-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
The deep distrust driving Argentines to hoard ‘mattress dollars'
BUENOS AIRES, May 24 — Argentine 'Rita Lopez,' 84, keeps her US dollars hidden in an empty pea can in the kitchen. Since childhood, she has steered clear of banks in a country that has veered from one economic crisis to another. 'I wouldn't even think of putting my savings in the bank,' the former lawyer told AFP at her modest apartment in Buenos Aires. She asked to use a fake name to shield herself from thieves. Lopez is not alone. The government estimates there are about US$200 billion (RM846 billion) so-called 'mattress dollars' out there — five times the reserves of the Central Bank. On Thursday, President Javier Milei's government launched a plan to encourage Argentines to bank these dollars, also commonly stashed under floorboards, in safety deposit boxes or offshore accounts. Under the initiative, anyone can make a deposit of up to 100 million pesos (about US$90,000) without having to declare the provenance. The goal is to boost foreign reserves, stimulate the formal economy and bolster the peso. But Lopez remains sceptical. 'The one who kept his savings (in the bank) was my father, he always lost, it always went bad for him,' she said. One of the worst moments, said Lopez, was in 2001 when the then-government put in place so-called 'corralito' (corralling) measures to limit cash withdrawals and freeze bank accounts. That move, intended to limit capital flight in the midst of a prolonged recession, was widely considered draconian and the spark for protests that left 39 people dead and toppled a president. Trafficking, corruption, smuggling? Argentina has faced 16 economic crises since 1860. Lopez has lived through seven of them in the last 50 years. Countless people lost life savings as the system collapsed over and over, inflation spiralled out of control, and governments imposed currency controls. Their fingers burnt, many Argentines took to trading their battered pesos for whatever greenbacks they could lay their hands on, and hoarding them at home. In cash. Now Milei wants that money to enter the system, saying in an interview Monday: 'I don't care in the slightest where the dollars come from.' His is not the first Argentine government to try this. As long as the dollars are not in the system, explained economist Julian Zicari of the University of Buenos Aires, they 'do not contribute to (foreign) reserves nor generate lending capacity for banks.' Self-declared anarcho-capitalist Milei has imposed strict budget-cutting measures on the South American country since taking office in December 2023, resulting in inflation dropping from 211 per cent to 118 per cent last year. Maintaining a stable exchange rate is one of his chief goals. Last year, a tax amnesty brought in billions of dollars in deposits and, in April, Argentina received a first tranche of US$12 billion from a new US$20 billion loan agreed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Some fear the 'mattress dollar' concessions will abet money laundering, though the government has denied this. 'By not requiring justification of origin... the possibility is enabled for funds from drug trafficking, human trafficking, public corruption or smuggling to be incorporated into the formal system,' economist Pablo Tigani wrote in the Ambito newspaper. In effect, he argued, it amounts to 'an amnesty for those who did not pay taxes, without any distinction between tax evasion, illicit enrichment, or even money laundering.' Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni insisted Thursday that those with undeclared funds 'are not criminals, they are the vast majority of Argentines who have been abused by excessive taxes and controls.' Either way, Lopez insists nothing can get her to part with her pea can. 'One day the government tells you one thing and then another government comes in and does something else. I don't trust them. I wouldn't put my money in the bank,' she said. — AFP
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
BofA Tells Clients to Bet Against Mexico Peso as Recession Looms
Bank of America Corp. is telling clients to bet on declines in Mexico's peso against the euro, warning of risks including an economic downturn at home and a proposed tax on remittances from the US. The Wall Street bank, one of the first to call the currency 'super peso' ahead of a massive rally in 2023, said that recent gains have left it almost 10% overvalued relative to its macroeconomic fundamentals.
Bloomberg
09-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Argentina Halts Private Bond Sale Amid Pressure on Peso Rate
Argentina's central bank intervened to stop a dollar bond sale by Banco Supervielle halfway through the trading day on Friday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, a move that could avert pressure on the peso in the parallel exchange market. Supervielle had already received demand from clients for the deal, which sought to raise $100 million in total through two six-month bonds. The instruments were split into two tranches: one in pesos and another in US dollars, the latter to be paid offshore using freely available foreign currency, according to the people, who asked not be named discussing private information.
