The authorities cracked down on underground dollar operations on Thursday and Friday, raiding banks and launching investigations and filing complaints against brokerages. The government also further restricted access to U.S. dollar bonds on Thursday. The MEP dollar (the financial rate investors get in the local market) made more moderate gains, reaching AR$812.7 on Friday. The government intervenes heavily in the MEP rate, and a report by the consultancy 1816 estimated that on Thursday alone, the Central Bank “burned” US$100 million in the MEP market to keep the price at bay. AFIP also found that 857 people with inactive tax identification numbers had apparently been active in the MEP dollar market, the government said.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald October 07, 2023 20:49 UTC