The peso benefited from a weakening of the dollar generated by President Trump’s conflict with the head of the United States central bank, Jerome Powell.
The exchange rate stood at 17.9188 pesos per dollar, an appreciation of 0.36% for the national currency, according to closing data from Banxico.
The Base financial group pointed out that the advance of the peso occurred at the same time as the weakening of the dollar by 0.22% according to the weighted index, after Powell received a subpoena from the Department of Justice in relation to the renovation of the offices of the Federal Reserve.
According to Powell, the measure is coercive because the key US interest rate has not been cut at the pace desired by Trump, Base added.
“The dollar is weakening as the possibility of Jerome Powell facing criminal charges calls into question the future of the autonomy of the Federal Reserve,” he explained.
Base noted that during the morning, prominent economists, including the last three Federal Reserve chairs (Alan Greenspan, Ben S. Bernanke and Janet Yellen), issued a joint statement noting that the Fed’s autonomy is critical for good economic performance.
Read: The Trump-Powell conflict weakens the dollar
They added that the lack of autonomy has no place in the United States and would have negative consequences for inflation and economic functioning.
Powell said Sunday that Donald Trump’s administration threatened him with criminal charges and issued grand jury subpoenas over testimony he gave before Congress last summer about a U.S. central bank building renovation project.
With information from Reuters
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