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To: goldsnow who wrote (26683)	1/22/1999 10:59:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116762

SENIOR ARGENTINE OFF'L: DOLLARIZATION NOT IMMINENT --Retransmitting Story Initially Headlined 19:06 EST Thursday By Nikolai von Goihman WASHINGTON (MktNews)- A senior Argentine government official Thursday evening told Market News International that Argentina has had only informal conversations with the U.S. government regarding establishing the dollar as the sole monetary unit for the Americas. "There has been some conversations already with the U.S. government, but as the U.S. Treasury has said there is no formal work that has been done, this is a project for the future," the official said. According to the official, the announcement made at 4 p.m. EST by Argentina Central Bank Governor Pedro Pou was only to clarify what is going on regarding a possible dollarization. "This speculation about the dollarization of Argentina's economy is an unfortunate timing of two separate issues," the official said, regarding the juxtaposition with Brazil's woes. "Argentina has been discussing in an informal way with the U.S. government the possibility of establishing the dollar as the monetary unit for the Americas, in the same way that the European Union has established a common currency," the official said. "This is related with discussions started several years ago regarding the trade integration of the Americas by President Bush and continued by President Clinton in the Summit of the Americas." The official said that discussions intensified in mid 1998 prompted by turmoil in different markets with concerns of devaluations in Asia and Russia. The official said that in Argentina there are technical specialists studying what can be done, and reiterated that the study is in an early stage. "It is a long term project and has nothing to do with the situation in Brazil, or a Brazilian devaluation, and not related with any imminent change in the monetary system in Argentina," the official said. Responding to the question why Argentina would abandon convertibility for dollarization, the official said "Dollarization" is an idea not only for Argentina. But the convertibility plan that has been the monetary plan in Argentina since 1991 is, the official said, just one step in the direction of a dollarized economy. Reacting to rumors of a possible devaluation of the Argentine peso, arising from comments made Wednesday night by an economist at Morgan Stanley, the official said that the government of Argentina is committed to convertibility, and the commitment is to move further as was done during the Mexican "Tequila crisis" in 1995 when additional steps within the convertibility regime were implemented and there was no devaluation of the currency. The official concluded by stressing that there is no imminent plan at all for "dollarization". "This is a project that is being discussed and analyzed and we don't know where we will end up with this," the official said. "There has been a lot of confusion in the markets but it should be clear this is a project that is being discussed and evaluated." Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 06:50 EST 01/22 © 1999 Market News Service, Inc. economeister.com