*** ----> Argentine peso plummets 14pc after Macri vote defeat | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Argentine peso plummets 14pc after Macri vote defeat

Argentina’s peso lost 14 per cent of its value against the dollar when exchange markets opened yesterday after President Mauricio Macri suffered a crushing defeat in party primaries over the weekend. The peso opened at 53 to the dollar having closed on Friday at 46.55.

Macri called a meeting with Central Bank president Guido Sandleris before the markets opened on Monday, while putting back his morning cabinet meeting to 3:30 pm (1830 GMT.) On Sunday, center-right, pro-business Macri was dealt a huge blow in his bid for re-election in October when he polled 15 points less than center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernandez.

Macri managed only 32 per cent in the party primaries that effectively acted as a nationwide pre-election opinion poll as all of the recession-hit South American country’s major parties had already chosen their presidential candidates.