Best currency of 2024 revealed

According to the publication, the growth of the Argentine peso more than doubled the result of the Turkish lira, which ranked second with a 21.2% increase.

The Argentine currency rose after seven years of consecutive declines. This strengthening is one of the outcomes of President Javier Milei's economic policies aimed at stabilizing Argentina's economy, which had been on the brink of hyperinflation before his arrival in power.

Milei focused on strict austerity measures and maintaining stringent currency controls. The strengthening of the peso led to an increase in average wages in dollar terms, which doubled to $990.

Risks for Argentina

However, experts note that to maintain the exchange rate, Argentina's central bank "has struggled to rebuild its virtually empty hard currency reserves as it spends dollars to keep the peso strong."

Increasingly, analysts are raising concerns that the rapid depreciation of the Brazilian real and potential tariff barriers under Donald Trump could make Argentina vulnerable to a sudden devaluation.

"Milei's programme is working, but the peso's appreciation is the greatest risk going forward," said Ramiro Blaskes, head of research at investment bank BancTrust. "If the peso continues to appreciate, or if there is a big external shock, demand for cheap dollars could surge, increasing the risk of devaluation."

Experts warn about the consequences of an artificially strong peso. The Big Mac Index shows that a Big Mac in Buenos Aires costs $7.90 compared to $3.80 a year ago at the official exchange rate.

Earlier this month, steelmaker Ternium warned that labor costs in Argentina had become 60% more expensive than in Brazil. The superpeso will harm the competitiveness of Argentine exports.

Even President Milei acknowledges that devaluation could derail his successful macroeconomic stabilization program.

"If the incoming US administration puts large tariffs on China, this will unleash a wave of devaluations across emerging markets," said Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "The peso is way overvalued anyway and needs to fall."

Over the past 54 years, the exchange rate in Argentina has averaged 1,510 pesos per dollar, adjusted for inflation, compared to about 1,050 pesos per dollar today, according to analysis by Martín Rapetti, director of Equilibra, an economic think tank in Buenos Aires.

Rapetti said that the government is "most likely" to maintain its current currency policy in 2025 following the recent tax amnesty that led to a dollar influx into the economy, but that it is "extremely unlikely" that Argentina will be able to sustain such an expensive peso after next year.

In Ukraine, the dollar exchange rate to the hryvnia rose by 10.4% in 2024. A devaluation of the hryvnia by about 10% is also expected in 2025.