The U.S. Treasury has purchased Argentine pesos and finalized a $20 billion currency swap with Argentina’s central bank
ByFATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. directly purchased Argentine pesos on Thursday and finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post.
The intent is to provide assistance from the Latin American country’s economic turmoil.
“U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets,” Bessent said, adding that the Treasury Department conducted four days of meetings with Argentinian Finance Minister Luis Caputo in Washington D.C. to come up with the deal.
Bessent has insisted that the Argentina credit swap is not a bailout. Last month, President Donald Trump stopped short of promising Argentina’s President Javier Milei a financial bailout from the Latin American country’s economic turmoil.
Still, U.S. farmers and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the deal as a bailout of a country that has benefited from sal