BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's opposition candidate had a comfortable lead over the ruling party's pick for the Nov. 22 presidential run-off election, according to a poll released on Saturday.
Potential investors in Latin America's No. 3 economy are watching to see if front-runner Mauricio Macri, the business-friendly mayor of Buenos Aires, can keep the momentum he gained in the Oct. 25 first round election and win the presidency.
He promises to open Argentina's economy after years of protectionist policies under the country's outgoing leader, Cristina Fernandez, who is barred by law from seeking a third term this year.
The poll, conducted by Management & Fit and published in newspaper Clarin, gave Macri about an 8 percentage point advantage over ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires province, who has been endorsed by Fernandez.
In the survey Macri got a voter intention rating of 52 percent versus 43.7 percent for Scioli, factoring in each candidate's projected share of undecided voters.
The poll of 2,400 voters taken last week had a margin of error of plus of minus 3 percent. The poll results were virtually unchanged from a Management & Fit survey released a week earlier.
Macri is calling for a clean break from Fernandez's interventionist policies, which include heavy controls on trade and currency. He defied the opinion polls in the Oct. 25 first round election by getting a higher-than-expected 34 percent of the vote, easily forcing a second and final round later this month.
Scioli promises to retain Fernandez's popular welfare policies while gradually pushing economic policy in a more orthodox direction.
The only debate of the Nov. 22 campaign is scheduled for Sunday evening, in which Macri and Scioli will compete for votes that went to moderate Congressman Sergio Massa, who finished third in the Oct. 25 first round election.