The dollar reached $1,000 at some currency exchanges in Santiago on Friday, according to La Tercera. The jump came on a day of falling international stock markets and a sharp rise in oil prices.
In the formal foreign exchange market, used by banks and large companies, the currency closed at $995, up $8.45 (0.86%) from the previous session. During the day, it hit a high of $996.20 on the Electronic Stock Exchange, while the Datatec system recorded a peak of $995.50.
According to Tradingview platform records cited by the newspaper, this is the highest level since January 2025. Its intraday chart shows that the US currency also came close to $1,000. Journalist Felipe Gallegos posted on X that currency exchanges on Agustinas Street were quoting the dollar at around that figure.
The cause lies far from Chile. Attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which much of the world's crude oil flows, and on energy infrastructure in the Middle East pushed Brent above US$116 per barrel. Brent is the international oil benchmark and reached its highest level since late April.
"That triggered a search for safe-haven assets that hurts emerging-market currencies such as the peso," explained Agustín Vargas, a market analyst at Capitaria. Think of it this way: when fear takes hold, investors sell what they consider risky, such as the Chilean peso, and buy dollars.
Ignacio Mieres, head of research at the XTB platform, added other domestic causes: weak economic activity, lower copper production and a greater need for dollars to pay for more expensive energy imports. According to Mieres, the Chilean peso is among the hardest-hit currencies of oil-importing emerging economies.
Chile buys more oil abroad than it produces. This week, the National Petroleum Company (ENAP) announced another increase in fuel prices, with record highs for diesel and increases of more than $40 for gasoline.
The hit to household budgets could extend beyond the pump. A dollar near $1,000 also makes imported food and inputs, such as wheat, flour, vegetable oils and fertilizers, more expensive. Pablo Müller, an academic at Universidad Autónoma, told Pulso that this could raise the cost of bread and pasta, as well as transportation.
Müller clarified that the effect is neither immediate nor automatic. It depends on how long the increase lasts and how much companies can absorb. If the dollar stays at those levels, he warned, there would be renewed pressure on inflation, making it harder for households to regain purchasing power.
For Vargas, the key technical level is around $990, April's high. A further rise would depend on an escalation in the Middle East, a drop in copper prices or a tougher tone from the Federal Reserve (Fed), the United States' central bank, which meets next week.
