Argentina returns to currency controls as debt crisis spirals

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's government authorised currency controls on Sunday in an about-face by President Mauricio Macri, who had previously lifted many protectionist practices of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The central bank is now authorised to restrict purchases of dollars as it burns through its reserves in an effort to prop up the peso currency, the government said in a decree published in its official bulletin.