By Nancy Caouette
MEXICO CITY
The Mexican peso fell another 0.15 percent to 14.57 against the dollar Thursday, as it continues to feel the impact of an uninterrupted slide in crude oil prices.
At some currency exchange offices, the dollar has been sold to 15 pesos, after trading for the past two years at around 12 to 14 pesos.
Worried by the drop in oil prices and the possible increase in U.S. interest rates, the central bank on Tuesday resurrected an intervention program to restrain foreign-exchange volatility that has been used only on three occasions since November 2011.
The Bank of Mexico and the Treasury department said the government would auction $200 million on the days that the peso falls at least 1.5 percent from the previous day. The intervention measure has been used on three occasions since November 2011.
‘’We want to be prepared to face a storm that comes from other countries,” said Agustin Carstens, the bank’s governor, during a press conference on Tuesday.
The peso's volatility could discourage foreign investment in Mexico as the country is set to open up its state-run oil company, PEMEX, and the sector after 76 years of a national monopoly.
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