Bessent says United States ‘not putting money’ in Argentina, touts swap

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated support for Argentina on Thursday, but later warned any aid wouldn’t involve outright US investment, triggering steep swings in bond prices.

The currency market was more stable, largely because Javier Milei’s government sold dollars for a third straight day to defend the peso.

Bessent said on X early Thursday that the United States would do “what is necessary” to help Argentina, triggering a surge in the bonds. A little later, he told CNBC that this didn’t mean putting money into the country, a caveat that sent the notes back down again. Later still, a report Milei’s top deputies were heading to Washington for talks sent the notes back up.

The US had previously outlined at least three possible options to help the crisis-prone South American nation, including a US$20-billion swap line, the repurchase of Argentine debt and direct currency purchases. Bessent’s latest comments seem to have narrowed it down.

“We’re giving them a swap line, we’re not putting money into Argentina,” he said in the CNBC interview.

Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Central Bank Governor Santiago Bausili are scheduled to arrive in the US on Friday to discuss the swap line, according to local media.

Argentine dollar bonds due in 2035 recovered in afternoon trading, climbing more than a cent on the dollar – the first advance in six days. The peso was steady after the government intervened again, closing Thursday’s session at 1,424.5 to the dollar. The upper limit of a trading band agreed with the International Monetary Fund is currently at 1,481.7.

Milei’s government has had to deploy millions of dollars and reintroduce some exchange controls to fend off further depreciation of the peso over the past week. On Thursday, it sold greenbacks again, according to people familiar with the matter. It unloaded around US$180 million, according to one of the people, bringing net sales to about US$650 million since Tuesday.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack reiterated the Washington-based lender’s backing of Argentina during a press briefing Thursday. But she also stressed the need to build “broad political support” for Milei’s reform agenda and for the country to rebuild its foreign reserves.

Earlier, dollar notes had fallen from session highs “as investors digested clarifications” that the US aid represents “a swap line rather than a new injection of dollar liquidity,” Walter Stoeppelwerth, chief investment officer at local brokerage Grit Capital Group, said in a report to investors.

The drop in the currency has been driven in part by concerns over Milei’s faltering political support. His party is hoping to increase its representation in Congress in national midterm elections this month, having suffered a crushing defeat in a local vote in Buenos Aires Province in early September.

Bessent’s announcement of a lifeline last week sparked major rallies in both the peso and dollar bonds. But the excitement was short lived, as the currency saw renewed pressure from rising dollar demand and as investors grew skeptical around the timing and form of US help.

“The political backdrop is still central to the case,” Stoeppelwerth said. “Risks remain that the administration could overreact in defense of the exchange rate band, even dipping into IMF resources, or that Milei’s polarising leadership style could erode middle-class support and weaken governability.”