Argentine far-right libertarian economist and presidential candidate Javier Milei celebrates the results of the primary elections with his sister Karina Milei at his headquarters in Buenos Aires on August 13, 2023.
Argentina's central bank devalued its currency, the peso, by close to 18% and hiked its benchmark interest rate by a whopping 21 percentage points to 118% on Monday following a shock primary election win by far-right libertarian Javier Milei.
The moves were a bid by the government to calm markets in the wake of the Argentinian congressman's surprise victory, which gave him the largest share of votes in the country's presidential primary election at roughly 30%, far exceeding forecasts.
Argentina's presidential election will be held in October.
Argentinian stocks and its sovereign dollar bonds were also lower Monday.
Persons:
Javier Milei, Karina Milei
Locations:
Argentine, Buenos Aires, Argentina's