Former Economy Minister Ricardo López Murphy criticized the exchange rate policy of Javier Milei's government, calling it "excessively interventionist" and comparing it to previous regimes. According to him, the intervention contradicts the official free market discourse upheld by the Casa Rosada.
López Murphy proposed a plan to eliminate the official foreign exchange market, suggesting a transitional model that would allow for greater flexibility in the dollar. He suggested aligning 30% of what is sold in the free market for imports and exports and increasing it by 5% monthly. He argued that under his proposal, the official foreign exchange market would disappear within 14 months.
Regarding the decision to reduce the crawling peg to 1%, the economist pointed out that this measure was not advisable and that the Government broke its own rules by proceeding with it. He criticized the 20% increase in imports despite the 5% economic growth in the last quarter, warning that this trend could lead to serious problems in the future.
The former minister expressed his concern about the current currency appreciation and emphasized that following a path of devaluation would have been preferable to the current situation. He considered that the current exchange rate policy is exacerbated by a 1% crawling peg in conjunction with exorbitant interest rates, offering an unsustainable outlook in his opinion.
