Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
(Bloomberg) —
Most Read from Bloomberg
The US spent an amount well in excess of $1 billion this month acquiring Argentine pesos, according to market estimates, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s backstop effort intensified ahead of the Oct. 26 midterm vote.
The tally remains unconfirmed, but one trader who asked not to be identified put the figure at $1.4 billion, while a local consulting firm told clients it was closer to $1.7 billion. The US Treasury Department and Argentina’s Economy Ministry and central bank have yet to publish official numbers. Spokespeople for the Treasury didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Argentine President Javier Milei and Bessent have sought to head off a pre-election run on the currency. The Argentine peso, which the government permits to trade freely within a specified range, has already weakened by 21% over the past four months. It traded at the weakest end of the band for several days, prompting the central bank to step in for the first time in about a month.
“It was an important step to prevent a deeper deterioration in Argentine asset valuations,” said Fernando Losada, an economist at Oppenheimer. “Still, the fact that the exchange rate traded near the top of the band — despite Bessent’s announcements and the US Treasury’s peso purchases — suggests that even with the Treasury in the market, investors remain wary of the political risk around the elections.”
The US Treasury sold its largest amount of dollars on Oct. 22, when the peso snapped a five-day losing streak. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. were the two main dealers selling dollars on the Treasury’s behalf that day, with traders estimating sales of $400 million to $500 million.
Argentina’s central bank reported additional dollar sales of $45.5 million on Oct. 21 at the end of the session.
The government faces pivotal midterm elections this Sunday that will gauge public support and determine how much room it has to push ahead with the reforms it says are needed.
Bessent also arranged a $20 billion currency swap line for Argentina this month to provide more access to dollars, a deal he described as a “bridge to a better economic future” for the South American country.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.