In 1998, Brazil ended its own peg to the US dollar, which resulted in a strong depreciation of the real. This helped the Brazilian economy to recover, but had a big impact on the Argentine economy, as it reduced the competiveness of many Argentine producers. Meanwhile, the prices of Argentina’s agricultural export products fell. All this led to a sharp reduction in exports. As a result, Argentina’s current account deficit rose and the country went into recession in the autumn of 1998.