阿根廷比索遭遇2002年以來最大單日跌幅

Argentina’s peso suffered its biggest one-day fall since the 2002 financial crisis after the country’s central bank pulled its support for the currency in an effort to preserve foreign exchange reserves that have fallen by almost a third over the past year.

阿根廷比索遭遇2002年金融危機以來最大單日跌幅。此前，阿根廷央行爲保住過去一年裏已減少了近三分之一的外匯儲備，停止了對比索匯率的支撐。

The fall accelerated a long-running decline since President Cristina Fernández replaced her economic team in November. The currency plunged about 15 per cent although thin liquidity made it difficult to gauge its true level.

這一下跌加速了自阿根廷總統克里斯蒂娜•費爾南德斯(Cristina Fernández)去年11月更換其經濟團隊以來的長期跌勢。比索匯率暴跌了大約15%，儘管較低的流動性使得人們難以評判其真實匯率水平。

The peso was trading at about 7.90 to the dollar by early afternoon New York time. That is still at some distance from the black market rate that most Argentines use, which has weakened 20 per cent since the start of the year to stand at about 12.85 to the dollar yesterday.

截至紐約午盤前段，比索兌美元匯率約爲1美元兌7.90比索。這與多數阿根廷人所用的黑市匯率仍有一定差距。自今年初以來，比索黑市匯率已下跌了20%，跌至昨日的約1美元兌12.85比索的水平。

The peso fall added to increased risk aversion on global markets. By midday in New York, the S&P 500 equity index was down 1 per cent, while the CBOE Vix volatility index – Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge” – was up 7.5 per cent.

比索的下跌進一步助長了全球市場上已然加劇的風險厭惡情緒。到紐約午盤時分，標準普爾500指數下跌了1%，而被華爾街稱爲“恐慌指標”的芝加哥期權交易所波動率指數(CBOE Volatility Index)則上升了7.5%。

The peso’s fall will have been hastened by a broader sell-off in emerging markets yesterday, with weak data from China’s manufacturing sector adding to concerns over the effects of the Federal Reserve’s tapering plans. Turkey’s central bank was forced to intervene to prop up the lira and the South African rand, Brazilian real and Chilean peso also fell sharply. Argentina first introduced currency controls a week after Ms Fernández was re-elected president by a landslide in 2011. Since then the government has redoubled efforts to restrict transactions in foreign currency.

由於中國製造業的疲弱數據加重了人們對美聯儲(Fed)縮減量寬計劃之影響的擔憂，昨天新興市場出現了大範圍的拋售行爲，這將進一步加速比索的下跌。土耳其央行曾被迫出手干預，支撐里拉匯率。南非蘭特、巴西雷亞爾及智利比索也曾急劇下跌。2011年，費爾南德斯以壓倒性勝利再次當選總統一週之後，阿根廷首次出臺了匯率管控。自那以後，阿根廷政府已加倍努力限制外匯交易。

On Wednesday, it imposed new restrictions on online shopping in its latest attempt to curb capital flight and prevent a possible balance-of-payments crisis. Jorge Capitanich, the head of Argentina’s cabinet of ministers, told reporters yesterday that the central bank had not bought or sold dollars the previous day, “which tells you what its position is with respect to the exchange rate”. Earlier in the week, he urged businesses to “produce and invest, rather than worrying about the illegal dollar”.

週三，阿根廷政府出臺新措施限制網購，試圖抑制資本外逃、防止可能發生的國際收支危機。阿根廷內閣首席部長豪爾赫•卡皮塔尼奇(Jorge Capitanich)昨日對記者表示，阿根廷央行之前一天沒有買入或賣出美元，“這向你們表明了央行在匯率方面的立場”。本週早些時候，他敦促企業“要生產和投資，不要去擔心非法美元的問題”。

Foreign currency reserves, which fell to $29.44bn on Wednesday, are now at a seven-year low as the government drains its coffers to service debt and pay for rising energy imports. The central bank sold $5.9bn to prop up the peso last year.

由於政府動用國庫償還債務併爲日益增加的能源進口買單，阿根廷的外匯儲備週三降至294.4億美元，目前正處在7年來的最低水平。去年，阿根廷央行拋出59億美元，以支撐比索匯率。