The foreign exchange market opened in Chile on Friday with a significant rise in the dollar against the national currency, which is the second-highest historical level of the U.S. currency, this while the Santiago Stock Exchange and yesterday it experienced a drop of 0.80% and added its fifth consecutive day to the downside, as part of concern about the effects of the coronavirus on the world economy.
According to Bloomberg data, the dollar is trading at this time n$819.49, its second-highest value in history, yielding a $4.66 hike for this morning.
Until now, the worst historical exchange rate of the Chilean currency had been at 829 pesos per dollar, a level reached on November 28, 2019 and caused by the social crisis that the country is experiencing, with many protests demanding changes in the socio-conformal model Mico.
The current dollar rise is analyzed in an international context of concern for the COVID-19 coronavirus, something the Government says it is monitoring.
“We are monitoring it very closely, our country is the most open in the world, we have 29 free trade agreements and therefore everything that happens on the international side affects us, affects the price of copper and the dollar,” Chile’s economy minister said yesterday , Lucas Palacios.
However, the Secretary of State added that “the important thing is not the contingent exchange rate hikes or decreases, but when they become permanent hikes.”
“That can have an effect on CPI and inflation,” he said.
It should be noted that coronavirus is wreaking havoc in all markets, including raw materials, where the country’s main export, copper, is traded. The red metal, the main support of the Chilean peso against the green back, scored a drop of 1.4% at the moment, to US$ 2.53 per pound.
