QUOTES-Argentina devalues peso, cuts spending in economic shock therapy

Argentina will weaken its peso by more than 50% to 800 per dollar, cut energy subsidies and cancel public works tenders as part of an economic shock therapy aimed at fixing the South American country's worst crisis in decades. The exchange rate, in turn, was highly overvalued and a significantly more competitive exchange rate should allow the central bank to accumulate international reserves that currently stand at critical levels.