- Tweeter
republish
The Argentine stock market collapsed and the peso devalued on Monday (August 12th) after President Macri's primary election defeat, testifying to the markets' mistrust of the winner, Alberto Fernández, backed by former president Cristina Kirchner.
With our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Jean-Louis Buchet
The strong reaction of the markets to the defeat of Mauricio Macri is up to the disappointment of investors. Last Friday, on the strength of confidential polls that predicted a tight result, they had bought Argentine stocks and debt securities. The stock market had jumped and the peso had firmed up.
But on Sunday night, Alberto Fernández ahead of current president Mauricio Macri by 15 points and the return of the Peronists to power during the October elections seems inevitable. Now, Peronism, at least in the version that has been that of the presidency of Cristina Kirchner, is exchange control, restrictions on the movement of capital and economic dirigisme.
Black Monday
Whence this black Monday: investors sell, Argentine shares fall by 59% in New York and nearly 38% in Buenos Aires and the peso loses 28% against the dollar.
Alberto Fernández, who claims to be the representative of a moderate Peronism, has judged this reaction irrational and accused the authorities of letting it go. It is true that the Central Bank was slow to intervene, while Mauricio Macri claimed that it was up to the opposition to prove that the fears it raises are unfounded. In the meantime, the Argentineans will pay the bill due to the rise in prices that will result from the devaluation.