Overview

• Last week the U.S. Treasury detailed a $20 billion bilateral currency swap with Argentina and began buying pesos directly to bolster the currency and relieve central-bank reserves.
• Following the announcement, the official exchange rate strengthened to about 1,370 per dollar from 1,490 in four days, a gain of more than 8%.
• Javier Milei is meeting President Donald Trump at the White House to seal the assistance after Washington’s earlier signal it would do whatever was necessary.
• The timing is crucial for Milei, with legislative midterms on October 26 that will determine his room to maneuver on his austerity agenda.
• Speculation about quid pro quos persists as Milei denies any U.S. push to scrap Argentina’s China swap, the Chinese embassy defends countries’ freedom to choose partners, and the presidency highlights an OpenAI $25 billion data-center letter of intent in Patagonia.