Argentina’s peso tumbles after government lifts dollar limits
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Version 0 of 1. Argentina’s currency sharply devalued against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as the new administration lifted deeply unpopular limits on the buying of foreign currencies, a major change that will expose Latin America’s third-largest economy to international market forces in ways not seen in more than a decade. The devaluation, frequently hinted at by new President Mauricio Macri, could exacerbate already soaring prices and spook Argentines. Minutes after exchange houses and banks opened Thursday, the peso traded at about 15 to one U.S. dollar before ending the day at about 13.40. Over the past year, the government has kept the official rate fixed around 9. Attempting to stop capital flight, the preceding administration of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner instituted the restrictions on buying foreign currency in 2011. People who wanted to buy dollars, a common practice in a South American country with a long history of financial collapses, had to meet several requirements. Businesses, especially those needing to deal in dollars, were deeply affected. Although the Fernández administration insisted that dollars coming into the country trade at the official rate, getting dollars out at that rate, if at all, proved difficult. The result was an often baffling system of multiple official exchange rates. With the devaluation, the biggest fear is that inflation — estimated at about 30 percent — will worsen. There are also concerns that the lifting of currency rules could lead to a run on banks by Argentines eager to buy dollars. — Associated Press International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has been ordered to face trial for “negligence” in relation to a settlement the French government reached with businessman Bernard Tapie during Lagarde’s time as finance minister, a French court said Thursday. Lagarde, 59, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and will appeal the decision to put her on trial, her attorney said. The decision was made by a special court commission against the advice of the prosecutor, a court official said. The trial concerns Lagarde’s 2008 decision to allow an arbitration process to end a dispute between Tapie, a supporter of then-President Nicolas Sarkozy, and former state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais. The court has been looking into whether she erred in agreeing to the arbitration, which resulted in Tapie’s being awarded about $438 million. Having to face trial in France could have serious implications for Lagarde’s future at the helm of the IMF, though her job may not be in any immediate danger. Her five-year term as managing director expires in July. At the fund’s annual meeting in October, Lagarde said she would be open to serving another term. The IMF board said Thursday that it thinks Lagarde can still do her job. — Bloomberg News ● AstraZeneca has agreed to buy 55 percent of the privately held biotech firm Acerta Pharma for $4 billion to give it access to a new kind of blood cancer drug, boosting its long-term growth at the cost of a near-term hit to earnings. Britain’s second-largest drugmaker will pay $2.5 billion upfront and $1.5 billion when Acerta’s experimental drug acalabrutinib is approved by a regulator or at the end of 2018, whichever comes first, according to a statement. The deal gives AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot a promising new medicine as he seeks to bolster investors’ confidence after having turned down a takeover bid from Pfizer. ● Federal health officials have cleared a wearable heart-zapping device for children at risk of deadly irregular heartbeats. The LifeVest is intended for children who need round-the-clock heart monitoring but cannot receive an implantable device for various reasons. Defibrillators correct dangerous heart rhythms by jolting the heart with an electrical current. Most adults at risk of cardiac arrest have the life-saving devices surgically implanted. ● Apple has named Jeff Williams its chief operating officer, a job that had not been filled since Tim Cook left the position more than four years ago to become chief executive. Williams has worked at Apple for about 17 years and supervised the launch of the Apple Watch, which went on sale this year. Apple said he played a “key role” in the launch of the iPhone. The company also announced that it hired Tor Myhren from the advertising company Grey Group to be vice president of marketing communications. ● Facebook is trying to make it easier to send photos as the holiday season’s picture-taking frenzy escalates, offering a feature called “Photo Magic” that will automatically address a message so it can be sent quickly to Facebook friends identified in a picture. The option relies on the same image-recognition technology that attaches people’s names to Facebook posts. Facebook is counting on Photo Magic to foster more allegiance to its Messenger app as it competes with other services, such as Snapchat. — From news services |