By Jorge Otaola

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Argentina’s central bank said on Thursday that it would allow a managed float of the peso currency and abandon its current “uniform daily devaluation” strategy as it seeks to adapt its monetary policy amid sharpening economic turmoil.

The move comes with the gap between the official exchange rate and the rate quoted in the country’s informal currency markets close to 93% due to the distrust of investors and strong black market demand for dollars.

Among a series of measures, the bank said it would block senior public officials from buying and accumulating foreign currency and would move to facilitate the purchase of Chinese yuan against Argentine pesos for foreign trade operations.

A central bank source said that the entity would offer trades at 76.95 pesos per dollar ARS=RASL at Friday’s open, around 0.91% weaker than the close on Thursday.

Argentina’s