Due to the disbursement of the IMF and other international organizations, the national public debt increased in March by the equivalent $3,638 million: rose from US$394.15 billion in February to a record high 397.788 million US dollars, According to data from the Ministry of Finance.
Meanwhile, the gross reserves of the Central Bank in March increased by only US$351 million: from US$ 38,079 million to US$ 39,060 million, with a consequent increase in net debt.
The Report indicates that of US$397,788 million of gross debt, US$395,287 million is outstanding normal payment situation. And 33% of the debt in the normal payment situation is contracted in local currency while the The remaining 67% in foreign currency.
This public debt does not include that of the Central Bank or that of the Provinces and Municipalities.
“Compared to the previous month, normal payment debt increased by the equivalent of $3,616 million, a monthly growth of 0.92%. The change is explained by the increase in foreign currency debt of US$ 3,475 million and by the increase in local currency debt by the equivalent of US$ 141 million”, according to Finance.
Debt to the IMF increased from US$42,839 million to 46,041 million US dollars: $3,202 million. The SDR (Special Drawing Rights) outlay was US$5,315 million, but nearly half was used to pay maturities to the IMF itself. Due to the loans received, the debt to CAF (Andean Development Corporation) also increased by US$ 312 million. And with the IDB and the World Bank for smaller amounts.
“75% of the gross debt in the situation of normal payment corresponds to Treasury Securities and Effects, 20% to commitments with Official External Creditors1, 4% corresponds to Transitional Advances2 and the remaining 1% to other instruments”, specifies the relationship.
Meanwhile, compared to December 2022, debt grew by the equivalent of US$1,233 million, from US$396,555 million to US$397,788 million.
- In 2020, debt increased by US$12,517 million.
- In 2021, it increased by $27,651 million.
- In 2022, it increased by US$33,306 million.
Consequentially, between December 2019 and March, public debt grew by the equivalent of $74,707 million.
The Report indicates that “over the past 12 months, the stock of gross normal-payment debt increased by the equivalent of US$21,506 million, due to an increase in foreign-currency borrowing of US$5,761 million and the increase of local currency debt in the amount of US$ 15,745 million”. Most of the increase in peso debt corresponds to that adjusted for inflation.
The Ministry of Finance clarifies that “from the recommendations of statistical manuals and international definitions, The dollar is used as a unit of account to provide comparability and standardize statistics. In this way all the values are expressed in their equivalent in dollars, applying the exchange rate of the last working day of the period to convert the residual debts issued and payable into: pesos, special drawing rights (SDR), euros, yen, etc. “
Source: Clarin
