11.   The government finally threw in the towel Wednesday night, acknowledging basic problems in the economy, and allowing the peso to float freely against the dollar.

12.   President Eduardo Duhalde allowed the peso to float on the marketplace in January.

13.   Any dramatic weakening, they warned, could signal a return to the triple-digit hyperinflation that gripped the nation the last time the peso floated freely.

14.   Fernandez started by removing government controls on exchange rates, saying the peso would float in the future.

15.   For all other transactions, such as tourism, the peso will float.

16.   In recent years the peso had floated within a narrow band that drifted slowly downward against the dollar -- too slowly, critics claimed.

17.   Mexico plans to let the peso float within a band once the market has calmed down and the currency has strengthened, President Ernesto Zedillo announced Friday.

18.   Mexico will continue to allow its peso float freely, Ortiz said.

19.   The country also plans to end a two-month banking freeze on Monday when the peso floats freely against the U.S. dollar.

20.   The peso floats freely on the open market for ordinary transactions.