Overview

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States began purchasing pesos and completed a $20 billion swap framework using the Exchange Stabilization Fund, describing Argentina’s situation as one of acute illiquidity.
• Argentine assets rallied on the announcement, with sovereign bonds up about 10 percent, equities roughly 15 percent higher, and the peso strengthening.
• The arrangement gives Argentina’s central bank short‑term dollar access against pesos to bolster liquidity after heavy recent interventions, including a single‑day $678 million sale to defend the currency band.
• The move lands weeks after a provincial setback for President Javier Milei’s party and ahead of parliamentary elections at the end of October, and Milei publicly thanked the United States and President Donald Trump.
• Critics warn U.S. taxpayers face currency risk and point to tensions over Argentina’s soybean sales to China, while the IMF’s roughly $60 billion exposure underscores the broader policy stakes.