The behavior of the US currency and claims for exchange delay once again called into question the greenback as a refuge of value.
After the dollar A downward trend crystallized throughout 2022, resulting in an accumulated annual decline of 10.35%, the alternatives to seeking a refuge of value for the pesos returned to the center of the debate. 2023, for its part, only accentuated distrust, as the greenback fell another 2.62% in the calendar year.
Currently and although there are still several months ahead, the behavior of the dollar At the local level it seems to follow a flat trajectory similar to that of the previous two years, something that makes it even more unattractive compared to instruments indexed in local currency, such as Indexed Units (UI).
Today the dollar It closed at 38,792 pesos in its interbank price, accumulating an annual depreciation of 0.59% since the last exchange day of 2023, when it closed at 39,022 pesos.
How did the pesos perform over the course of the year?
Thus, whoever bought 1,000 dollars on December 29, 2023 (the last business day of last year) for 39,022 pesos, today would have about 38,792, that is, 230 pesos less. To this must be added the accumulated inflation to March, which according to National Institute of Statistics (INE) was 2.20% and the retail exchange spread for ordinary savers.
On the other hand, whoever put those same pesos in UI during the last business day of last year acquired almost 6,645 UI at a price of 5.8724 pesos, receiving today more than 39,859 pesos, that is, 2.15% more. This last saver retained almost all of his purchasing power and nominally acquired 837 pesos, or 21.6 dollars more.
For the moment, facing the cheap dollar, the UI seems to be more business. However, in an election year and with calls for devaluation in the air from agriculture and industry, the US currency still has time to become more profitable in the face of low inflation.
Source: Ambito
