The dollar edged up on Tuesday as markets remain concerned about recent developments in the emerging markets.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, was up 0.05% to 95.12 by 1:45AM ET (05:45 GMT), while the Argentine peso hit a record low on Monday as President Mauricio Macri vowed to employ “emergency” measures to resolve the crisis.
Argentina announced on Monday new austerity measures with the ultimate goal of eventually balancing the budget by next year. These measures include new taxes on exports and further cuts to government spending. The Macri government wants to speed up the release of a $50 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Macri said poverty levels would rise as inflation rises to over 30%. The country raised interest rates to 60% in late August. “This is not just another crisis. It has to be the last,” he said.
Meanwhile, the USD/TRY pair lost 0.5% to 6.6256 after Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Monday that there is no risk to either the country’s banks or its external debts.
The Turkish lira has lost about 40% value against the U.S. dollar this year, rattling markets.
Turkey’s central bank said in a statement on Monday that “(r)ecent developments regarding the inflation outlook indicate significant risks to price stability… [The] monetary stance will be adjusted at the September monetary policy committee meeting in view of the latest developments.”
Emerging markets have been hard hit by concerns that higher U.S. interest rates will pressure countries that have borrowed heavily in dollars in recent years.
Elsewhere, the USD/JPY pair edged up 0.05% to 111.14, while the AUD/USD pair gained 0.3% to 0.7232.
The USD/CNY pair was down 0.3% to 6.8215 as The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan reference rate at 6.8183 vs Friday’s fix of 6.8347.
