Argentina seeks relief from dollar

BRASILIA, Brazil — Argentine President Alberto Fernandez and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, vowed on Tuesday to keep working to come up with a mechanism that would allow them to avoid using the US dollar in trade between the neighboring nations.

Argentina's economy is looking particularly fragile after a run on the peso in the financial markets caused a sharp devaluation of the local currency late last month as well as a drain of US dollars from central bank reserves in part due to a devastating drought that has slashed exports.

There was a lot of anticipation on Tuesday that the two countries would unveil a mechanism allowing Argentine firms to continue trading with Brazil without draining dollars from the country's reserves. Yet after a nearly four-hour meeting, the two presidents made clear they were still fine-tuning the details.