Argentina will issue 10,000 and 20,000 peso notes – 01/11/2024 – Market

Argentina’s central bank will put 10,000 and 20,000 peso notes into circulation later this year, the local monetary authority announced in a statement this Thursday (11), after the country’s annual inflation rate exceeded 211% in December.

The central bank added a 2,000-peso note last year, currently the largest denomination note available.

This Thursday, the official dollar in the country was quoted at 835 pesos, while the informal, parallel or “blue” dollar reached 1,120 pesos.

The new banknotes would be worth, respectively, US$12.26 and US$24.53, in the case of the official quotation, or US$8.92 and US$17.85, in parallel.

The even larger banknotes will enter circulation at a time when the new ultra-liberal president, Javier Milei, seeks to avoid hyperinflation with strict austerity measures, in the wake of data released earlier showing that the rate of rise in consumer prices has reached its peak. highest since the beginning of the 1990s.

The index released on Thursday puts Argentina ahead of Venezuela, long the outlier of the inflation curve in Latin America, where inflation has fallen to around 193% in 2023 after years of uncontrolled price increases.

After a devaluation of more than 50% in the official exchange rate decided by Milei on December 13, two days after his inauguration, the sectors with the biggest increases last month were goods and services (32.7%), health (32 .6%), transport (31.7%) and equipment and home maintenance (30.7%), detailed Indec (National Institute of Statistics and Census).

However, “the division with the highest incidence in all regions was food and non-alcoholic drinks (29.7%)”, highlighted the institute, also emphasizing the prices of meat, bread and cereals.

To combat rising prices and, mainly, the deficit in public finances, Milei implemented austerity measures that include reducing subsidies for energy and transport tariffs, as well as halting state-funded infrastructure works that have not yet begun.

Furthermore, it decided to devalue the currency by more than 50%, within a control regime in force in Argentina for years, which includes a dozen different exchange rates.