President Luis Lacalle Pou He referred to the issue of the exchange rate delay that has the productive and agro-exporting sectors of Uruguay, and pointed out that the government is working to achieve a dollar more close to 39 or 40 pesos.
The demand for the exchange rate is nothing new, even less with a US currency that has not even managed to exceed the floor of 39 pesos —and closed the week negatively— despite some measures taken in this regard, such as For example, the lowering of interest rates by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU).
“I understand them, and also the exporters of other items. The Uruguayan currency has strengthened. We have taken some type of measure, such as the purchase by the entities of the dollars and some intervention of the Ministry of Economy”, said President Lacalle Pou in this regard, once again pointing out as a reason for the appreciation of the peso the important income of dollars that the country had after a year of record exports and many investments.
Likewise, and although he pointed out that “unfortunately there are times when we cannot affect the price of the dollar“, the president added in statements to the press that “every effort” is going to be made to counteract this situation. “Today I woke up at 5.30 and at 6.15 I was sending a message to the Minister of Economy (Azucena Arbeleche) and the president of the Central Bank (Diego Labat). I know they are having meetings these days,” he said.
Asked what this effort would be, he replied: “That without affecting inflation and finances, we can influence and intervene to some extent, with some mechanism, so that the dollar sticks more to 39, 40 pesos”.
The opinions of the president of the BCU on the dollar
Last Wednesday, meanwhile, the president of the BCU, Diego Labat, maintained that there is “conformity” with the operation of the exchange marketand that it will intervene only when “there are disorderly conditions” that make it necessary.
At a conference organized by We are Uruguay, Labat referred to the need to “take care of free floating” so that it reflects “no other thing than supply and demand” of dollars, “with the conditions” that the market has at all times.
“When there was an excess of interventions, the different economic agents ended up having a support, and they already knew that the dollar ended up having a ceiling or a floor. That ended up changing behaviors when they made decisions. (…) We are going to intervene when we really understand that there are disorderly market conditions that make it necessary”, said Labat.
Source: Ambito
