US profited from Argentina currency swap deal, Treasury chief Bessent says

(Reuters) -The U.S. government "made money" by giving support to the Argentine central bank ahead of last month's midterm election in the South American country, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday.

"We used our financial balance sheet to stabilize the government, one of our great allies in Latin America, during an election," Bessent said in an interview on MSNBC. "The president there won in a landslide, the government is going to make money."

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on Bessent's comments.

Bessent was asked about the $20 billion swap line that the Trump administration readied in support of right-wing Argentine President Javier Milei ahead of the election in which Milei's party widely outperformed expectations. Officials have stopped short of calling it a bailout, referring to it as support via the Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund.

"In most bailouts you don't make money," Bessent said. "The U.S. government made money."

Bessent said there is a "generational opportunity" to create allies in Latin America, citing upcoming elections in Chile and Colombia.

"By stabilizing the economy there (in Argentina) and making a profit, then that is a very good deal for the American people," Bessent said.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Paul Simao)