US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Friday that Argentina has fully repaid an emergency currency loan that generated \u201ctens of millions\u201d in profit for American taxpayers while stabilising a key regional ally.\n<\/p>\n
In a social media post, Bessent praised President Javier Milei\u2019s economic reforms and said the successful intervention demonstrated that President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cPeace Through Economic Strength\u201d policy was at work in Latin America.\n<\/p>\n
Argentina faced a severe liquidity crisis in October, with the value of the Argentine peso plummeting as investors lost faith in the economy.\n<\/p>\n
This prompted the United States to provide emergency dollar funding through a currency swap from the Treasury\u2019s Exchange Stabilisation Fund that effectively propped up the value of the peso, averting a financial crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cArgentina has successfully re-accessed financial markets and has made encouraging changes to its monetary and exchange rate policy framework,\u201d Bessent wrote.\n<\/p>\n
The Treasury no longer holds any Argentine pesos, he added. <\/p>\n
Coming days ahead of a key election, the crisis intervention supported Trump ally Milei, a libertarian economist who took office in December 2023 and has implemented sweeping reforms to address Argentina\u2019s chronic budget deficits and hyperinflation.<\/p>\n
Bessent noted that the Exchange Stabilisation Fund \u201chas never lost money\u201d and praised international support for Argentina\u2019s reforms, including an existing International Monetary Fund program.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly the United States could act as swiftly as we did in October to preserve market and exchange rate stability,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The assistance to Argentina reflects the Trump administration\u2019s broader engagement in Latin America, highlighted most dramatically by the recent US removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.\n<\/p>\n
AFP\n<\/p>\n
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