Argentina's peso falls 15% after surprise election results spook investors

Voters, in preliminary polls, rejected President Mauricio Macri's austere economic policies, raising questions about his chances of re-election. The surprise results affected global markets

A coalition backing Opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez — whose running mate is former president Cristina Fernandez — led by a wider-than-expected 14 percentage points with 47.1 per cent of votes, with fourth-fifths of ballots counted.
 
The presidential election is due to take place in October
 
Brutal response

The peso collapsed 15 per cent (as much as 25 per cent intraday), equities crumbled 48 per cent in dollar terms — the second biggest one-day slump anywhere since 1950 — and the bond market crashed, with a 100-year bond that investors had recently gobbled up tumbling 20 per cent as fears of yet another government default spiked

Credit-default swaps showed traders were pricing in a 75 per cent chance that Argentina will suspend debt payments in the next five years

Asian and European stocks tumbled early on Tuesday as they followed their US counterparts, which had slipped in Monday trade. However, European markets recovered and US markets opened on a positive note. EM currencies, including Indian rupee, Turkish liraand South African rand fell
 

Debt and inflation 

The government and its subsidiaries have $15.9 billion in debt payments denominated in dollars and euros due in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There are another $18.6 billion in bond principal, loans and interest payments issued in pesos

Argentina, as reported by The Guardian, relies on support from the IMF through a $57-bn loan intended to shore up its ailing finances

Macri, the son of a self-made construction tycoon, had made “zero inflation” a campaign pledge before he came to power in 2015. In reality it has soared to more than 50 per cent as the peso has weakened, The Guardian reported. Considered a market-friendly leader, Macri used austerity measures in a bid to stem the currency crisis, evoking an angry public response