(Adds analyst comment, foreign exchange market levels)
By Walter Bianchi
BUENOS AIRES Dec 19 (Reuters) - Argentina's central bank
chief, Alejandro Vanoli, said on Friday the government would
look to begin gradually "normalizing" its currency exchange
market in 2015.
The comments were seen by analysts as a signal of gradual
devaluation of the peso currency while the country
gets set to elect a new president in October. They also may show
the government is considering easing controls that were first
imposed three years ago to stem a hemorrhaging of hard currency.
"The idea is to not levy any further restrictions and to
move toward normalizing the currency market, depending on how
the economy is looking," Vanoli told local radio station Radio
America.
Largely shut out of global credit markets since a massive
debt default in 2002, the Argentine government for four years
has relied on its reserves to help finance imports, pay debts
and shore up the peso currency.
Importers and savers are restricted in how many dollars they
can buy a month and there is a 35 percent tax on credit card
purchases outside the country, tourist holiday packages and
plane tickets.
The restrictions have fueled a rampant black market as
Argentines look for channels to buy dollars to shield their
savings against inflation.
"Normalization means devaluation and the convergence of any
parallel exchange rates," said Walter Molano, an analyst at
U.S.-based BCP Securities.
The official peso ended at 8.5525 to the dollar on Friday,
while the black market rate settled at 13.10 to the
greenback, little changed.
Alejo Costa of Buenos Aires-based investment bank Puente
said Vanoli's comments were aimed at calming voters ahead of
next year's presidential election, and should be "taken with a
grain of salt".
"They might gradually increase how much (in U.S. dollars)
you can acquire for savings purposes," he said. "Increasing that
limit could be a popular measure."
Costa said he did not expect any sweeping measures would
lift restrictions on individuals transferring money abroad or
companies transferring profits abroad.
The controls have also curbed investment by foreigners who
distrust President Cristina Fernandez's heavy-handed
interventionist policies.
Reserves fell to an eight-year low of $26.9 billion in March
but have since risen to $30.8 billion, roughly where they
started the year, with the help of a Chinese loan, grain
revenues and a tightening of controls.
(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing
by Leslie Adler and Peter Galloway)