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Argentine companies will need to obtain authorization from the central bank to exchange pesos for dollars. AFP Photo / Ali al-Saadi

In Argentina, the government of Mauricio Macri imposed on Sunday 1st September a foreign exchange control to companies and individuals. This measure was taken to try to reassure markets frightened by the prospect of default.

Argentine exporting companies will now have to obtain authorization from the central bank to buy foreign currency, especially from the United States. Individuals will still be able to do this, but within the limit of $ 10,000 per month.

The aim of this exchange control is to limit the volatility of the Argentine peso, which has fallen by 20% in two weeks due to uncertainties in national finances. In the midst of the economic crisis, Argentina is experiencing a devastating inflation.

This measure, after the request for rescheduling of the debt addressed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), mainly allows the government to save time. Gabriel Giménez-Roche, professor of economics at the NEOMA business school explains: "At the moment, we must try to control the exit of the country's dollars because investors panic. So there, we save time, we try to contain the release of the dollars to see what will happen. But the markets are not necessarily reassured with that. "

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Markets all the less reassured that the favorite of the presidential election of October is not the outgoing president, the liberal Mauricio Macri, but the Peronist Alberto Fernandez , close to former President Cristina Kirchner , very hostile to the IMF and economic austerity policies.