Chile Peso Rout Stifled by Central Bank Verbal Intervention

BCCh says ready to act after peso reached 800 per dollar
Swaps show central bank cutting rates only once in 6 months

People take part in a national strike in central Santiago on Nov. 12.Photographer: Claudio Santana/Getty Images

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By Philip Sanders and Maria Jose Campano

November 12, 2019 at 1:14 PM UTC

Updated on

November 12, 2019 at 5:02 PM UTC

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Chile’s central bank moved to halt a rout in the peso as plans for a new constitution after weeks of protests stoked concern of fundamental change to the country’s free-market economy.

The peso weakened 2.8% to 781.87 per dollar at 1:18 p.m. after falling as low as 800.08, the biggest intraday move since 2011. Stocks and bonds also fell.