Bolivia ends a 15-year dollar peg as Ministerial Resolution 245 sets a floating boliviano at Bs 9.73 per US dollar

Summary

Bolivia's government issued Ministerial Resolution N° 245 on 26 June 2026, ending the country's fixed exchange rate of Bs 6.96 per US dollar that had been maintained since late 2011 and replacing it with a managed floating regime. The Banco Central de Bolivia set an opening rate of Bs 9.73 per dollar, effective Monday 29 June, representing approximately a 40% devaluation from the old peg. The BCB announced it would publish daily rates each evening based on weighted-average operations across the financial system. The float came after years of a worsening dollar shortage: Bolivia's net international reserves had dropped from a peak of roughly US$15 billion in 2014 to approximately US$3.1 billion by mid-2026, hydrocarbon export revenues had collapsed as gas fields matured, and a parallel market had placed the informal dollar rate near Bs 20. Bolivia under President Rodrigo Paz was simultaneously in negotiations with the IMF on a programme of approximately US$3.3 billion, for which exchange-rate unification was effectively a precondition. Bloomberg had reported on 15 June that Bolivian officials had told investors that "FX unification and an IMF deal are coming soon."

The split

The Paz government framed the float as a necessary correction after years of drain on reserves under the previous Arce administration, and as a prerequisite for IMF access. La Paz's financial community had anticipated the move, with the Bloomberg June 15 report confirming pre-announcement market signalling. Critics, including figures aligned with former President Evo Morales's MAS faction, argued the devaluation would immediately raise import prices, particularly for fuel and food, hitting poor households hardest. Business associations in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba called for complementary measures to stabilise import supply chains. The BCB stressed the rate would remain managed, not fully free-floating, with daily band management.

By the numbers

• Bs 9.73, opening BCB flexible rate per US dollar, effective 29 June 2026
• Bs 6.96, the fixed peg rate in place from 2011 until 26 June 2026
• ~40%, implied devaluation from the old peg to the new opening rate
• Bs ~20, approximate parallel-market dollar rate before the float
• US$3.1bn, approximate Bolivia net international reserves at mid-2026
• US$15bn, peak Bolivia net international reserves (2014)
• US$3.3bn, approximate size of the Bolivia-IMF programme under negotiation
• 15 years, duration of the fixed exchange rate regime

Why it matters

Bolivia's currency float is the most significant economic policy shift in the country since the hydrocarbon nationalisation era. The Bs 6.96 peg had become a political symbol of Evo Morales-era economic stability and was maintained by Arce's government long after it became untenable, exhausting reserves in the process. The float and associated IMF programme represent a structural break with that model. How smoothly Bolivia manages the transition, particularly inflation and import price pass-through, will determine whether the Paz government can sustain the reform course or whether social resistance forces a reversal.

What to watch

• Whether the BCB's managed float band stays near Bs 9.73 or drifts toward the old parallel rate of Bs 20.
• Whether Bolivia and the IMF formally conclude the US$3.3bn programme and on what conditionality.
• Whether fuel and food import price increases trigger street protests.
• Whether the float improves Bolivia's external position by making exports more competitive and discouraging dollarisation of savings.