Argentine peso
The peso (established as the peso convertible) is the currency of Argentina since 1992, identified within Argentina by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos, but due to rapid inflation, coins with a face value below one peso are now rarely used. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS. It replaced the austral at a rate of 10,000 australes to one peso.
| Peso argentino (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
current 500 peso banknote | |
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | ARS (numeric: 032) |
| Subunit | 0.01 |
| Unit | |
| Unit | peso |
| Symbol | $ , ARS, Arg$ |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄100 | centavo |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 pesos |
| Coins | |
| Freq. used | 1, 2, 5, 10 pesos |
| Rarely used | 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 centavos, bimetallic 1 and 2 pesos (no longer minted, still valid) |
| Demographics | |
| Replaced | Argentine austral |
| User(s) | Argentina |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Central Bank of the Argentine Republic |
| Website | www |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 287.9% in March 2024 |
| Source | Central Bank of the Argentine Republic' |
Argentine currency has experienced severe inflation, with periods of hyperinflation, since the mid-20th century, with periodic change of the currency to a new version at a rate ranging from 100:1 to 10,000:1. A new peso introduced in 1992, officially the peso convertible de curso legal, was worth 10,000,000,000,000 (ten trillion) pesos moneda nacional, the currency in use until 1970. Since the early 21st century, the peso has experienced further substantial inflation, reaching 287.9% year-on-year in March 2024, the highest since the current peso was introduced in the Convertibility plan of 1991.
The official exchange rate for the United States dollar valued the peso convertible de curso legal at one US dollar at its introduction in 1992, which was maintained until early 2002. Afterwards, it went from a 3:1 exchange rate with the US dollar in 2003 to 178:1 in early 2023. On 14 August 2023, the official exchange rate was fixed at ARS$350 to one US dollar; the unregulated rate valued the peso at ARS$665 to one US dollar. On 15 November 2023, the crawling peg was restored.
In 12 December 2023, following the election of president Javier Milei, economy minister Luis Caputo changed the official exchange rate to 800 pesos to the U.S. dollar from the previous 366.5, a devaluation of 54%, to be followed by a monthly devaluation target of 2%. At the time, the unofficial exchange rate was around 1000 pesos per dollar.