The national currency of Latin American country Argentina, the Argentine Peso, has collapsed after presidential candidate Javier Milei compared it to excrement. Milei has been favored by several polls by a huge margin to win the upcoming presidential elections.
According to the statistics, Milei has a 74.2% chance of winning the upcoming elections. Interestingly, Milei favors the dollarization of the Argentine economy and considers the local peso worthless. The ruling government under President Alberto Fernandez has accused the favored candidate of “public intimidation.”
Upcoming Elections in Argentina
The front-row candidates for the upcoming elections in Argentina include Milei from La Libertad Avanza, Economy Minister Sergio Massa from the ruling Peronist Unión por la Patria coalition, and former security minister Patricia Bullrich from the Juntos por el Cambio coalition. Massa has around a 16% chance of winning the elections, while Bullrich’s chances stand at 9%, according to the survey.
Declining Value of the Argentine Pesos and Dollarization
After Milei compared the Argentine pesos to excrement, the currency fell to record lows. The candidate advised the citizens of the country not to save their money in the local currency or peso-based fixed-term instruments. During a radio interview, the candidate asked citizens to choose the dollar instead of the peso.
He added:
“The peso is the currency issued by the Argentine politician and therefore cannot even be worth excrement because that garbage is not even useful for fertilizer.”
Following the statement from the favored candidate, the value of the Argentine peso fell to 1,050 pesos per dollar. This is the first time in the history of the Latin American nation that the price of the regional currency went above the 1000 price level when compared to the dollar.
Milei has proposed the dollarization of the economy and the dissolution of the Central Bank of Argentina because of the triple digital inflation rampant in the country and the failure to control it.
After winning the primary elections held in Argentina in August, Milei stated:
“If you want to end the scam of monetary emissions to cover for the treasury and end inflation, given that Argentine politicians are thieves, the only way is to close down the Central Bank and, at the beginning [of my government], dollarize [the economy].”
Milei noted that if the price of the USD continues to rise, this task would be easier to complete. As reported earlier by BitcoinNews, the inflation levels in Argentina continue to rise. During these times, Bitcoin has been suggested as a potential lifeline for Argentinians because of its properties as a hedge against inflation.
Milei has previously voiced his positive perspective on Bitcoin, asserting that it “represents the return of money to its original creator, the private sector.”
