Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde has accepted the resignation of Central Bank head Mr Aldo Pignanelli, the government said today, in a move that is not expected to lead to any major change in economic policy.
"The resignation can be confirmed. No one has yet been named to the post, so Pignanelli will remain in the post until his replacement is designated," a spokesman for Mr Duhalde's Cabinet chief, Mr Alfredo Atanasof, said.
Mr Pignanelli is the fourth central bank president to have quit the post in over a year as Argentina lurches through its worst ever economic crisis.
Latin America's third-largest economy has also passed through six economy ministers and five presidents in a year that has seen debt default, a currency devaluation and widespread street protests.
Mr Pignanelli, frequently at odds with Economy Minister Mr Roberto Lavagna over aspects of monetary policy, has twice threatened to resign since taking the post in June. Each time, Mr Duhalde persuaded him to stay.
"Obviously it's not a good thing, but neither could one continue with the feuds with the economy minister. I'd say it is the lesser of two evils. . . . It would have been a lot worse if the economy minister had gone," said Mr Dario Lewkowicz, a trader at Exprinter Administradora.
Despite the personal feuding, both Mr Pignanelli and Mr Lavagna have won praise from Mr Duhalde and investors for ensuring the stability of the peso, which in recent months has hovered around 3.60 to the dollar after a devaluation of more than 70 per cent at the start of the year.
Mr Lavagna is increasingly the strongman of the cabinet, enjoying a rise in popularity as the economy shows tentative signs of recovery in the last few months.
Traders said the government's monetary policy would likely continue unchanged despite the resignation.
Uncertainty over Mr Pignanelli's future had put pressure on the peso on Friday. The peso ended stable but only after the central bank was forced to sell an unusually heavy $75 million in the market.