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News > Latin America

Argentina Central Bank Chief Resigns Amid National Strike

  • Former Finance Minister Caputo has only held the role since June and is the second Argentine central bank president to resign this year. 

    Former Finance Minister Caputo has only held the role since June and is the second Argentine central bank president to resign this year.  | Photo: Reuters

Published 25 September 2018
Opinion

The resignation takes place in the midst of negotiations with the IMF to stem a currency crisis and large-scale national strikes.

Luis Caputo, the governor of Argentina's central bank, has resigned citing personal reasons, the bank has said in a statement. The resignation takes place in the midst of efforts to negotiate a deal with the IMF to stem a currency crisis and large-scale national strikes, which have crippled public services.

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Former Finance Minister Caputo has only held the role since June and is the second Argentine central bank president to resign this year. 

Argentina's currency, the peso, slid 4.65 percent to open at 39.15 per U.S. dollar after the announcement, traders said.

Former Economic Policy Secretary Guido Sandleris was named as Caputo's replacement, a statement from the presidency said.

"This resignation is due to personal reasons, with the conviction that a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund will re-establish confidence in the fiscal, financial, monetary and exchange rate situation," said the central bank statement.

The news comes as Argentina is finalizing a deal to bolster a $50 billion credit line with the IMF in New York.

Argentina's recession-hit economy is burdened by high-interest rates and a currency that has lost around 50 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar this year.

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