According to a survey carried out at the IDEA Colloquium, Argentine businessmen reject the dollarization of the economy.

(Reuters) Almost 99% of executives and businessmen consulted Reuters Argentina rejected the possibility of dollarizing the economy as proposed by the ultraliberal Javier MileyDespite severe inflation, it is one of the favorites to win the presidential elections at the end of October.

66.7% of 125 company representatives polled by Reuters at a representative company meeting in the city of Mar del Plata on Wednesday and Thursday favored a bimonetary regime (dollar-peso), while the remaining 31.7% chose to maintain domestic use. Weight only. Only 1.6% of executives consulted in favor of dollarization.

A bimonitory option was proposed by the Together for Change candidate Patricia Bullrich and peso’s succession of economy minister and ruling party presidential candidate Sergio MassaAmid a protracted financial crisis that threatens to worsen.

“It’s very complicated for Argentina-based companies to think about dollarization,” a senior auto industry executive told Reuters.

“We lack an anchor to adjust to currency fluctuations and experiences in other countries (El Salvador and Ecuador) have not been good,” the executive added during a briefing. Annual colloquium of the Business Development Institute of Argentina (IDEA)..

Most polls for the Oct. 22 presidential election show libertarian Miley as the leader, closely followed by Massa and then Bulrich, though they discount a close race that will define November in a race where all three are fighting to enter. .

Strong corporate opposition underscores one of the challenges a potential La Libertad Avanza government would face in pushing forward with its plans for the economy.

80% of business people polled said they preferred Bullrich for president because they felt he had the most credible plan to fix the economy, compared to 11% who backed Massa and just 7% for Miley. The rest lean towards less likely candidates.

The economic situation is “very complicated,” said Claudio Belokopit, president of medical services company Swiss Medical. “You can’t expect to keep a patient in intensive care forever (…) things will get worse,” he added.

With the domestic currency under constant devaluation pressure, the official exchange rate controlled by the central bank, currently around 350 pesos to the dollar – compared to the nearly 800 pesos paid in exchange markets – should fluctuate between 650 and 1,000 units. Administrators.