BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's battered currency closed trading with a slight recovery on Friday, but it was small consolation at the end of a turbulent month that saw it plummet 33.5 percent in value.
The peso traded at an average of 38 to the U.S. dollar, according to the Central Bank (BCRA).
Since the beginning of the year, when the peso traded at 18 to the dollar, Argentina's currency has since lost half of its value.
On Thursday, the peso traded at a record low of 40 to the dollar, leading the bank on Friday to launch three dollar-auctions, selling a total of 250 million U.S. dollars in reserves, in a bid to shore up its currency.
The measures worked, at least temporarily. Retail sales (at exchange houses) on Friday saw the dollar sell for 37.40 pesos, while the wholesale rate offered banks and other institutions handling large transactions settled at 36.85 pesos.
To cover its debts as its money devalues, the Argentine government has been forced to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to speed up the disbursement of a 50-billion-U.S.-dollar loan it recently secured from the global lender.
On Monday, Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne is set to travel to Washington to meet with IMF chief Christine Lagarde.
On the agenda is convincing the IMF to relax some of its loan conditions, including the 1.3-percent target primary fiscal deficit for 2019.
As part of the loan agreement, Argentina is committed to a target fiscal deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP for 2018 and 1.3 percent for 2019, with the deficit eliminated by 2020.
Argentina has also raised the interest rate to 60 percent in an attempt to prevent capital flight.
