The new scheme to contain the drain on reserves would not be free for the next administration. Car terminals already assume this must be funded for 195 days pay vehicle imports in official dollars, at 235 pesos.
The government has informed them that they will have to use their own currencies or borrow them until December, so it will likely be the new management that faces the $900 million transfer of dollars in 2023.
After the currency run in April, the Central Bank further restricted imports and set up a mechanism to allow large companies to “finance” themselves using export credits to pay for imports.
The measure coordinated with the Secretary of Commerce to decompress the outflow of dollars involves a stretching o the continuity of deadlines already extended to access the foreign exchange market.
In the case of the automotive sector, the approval of payments for imported cars it went from 120 days last year to 210 in April and 195 in Maywhile auto parts, spread from 45 to 75 days. The imported vehicles represent US$150 million per month and a total of US$900 million which the Central Bank will only release in six months. In this way, the government tries to buy time in a scenario where it will no longer have the soybean dollar.
The provision was discussed with terminals, oil companies and consumer goods companies, after a prior agreement between the Central Bank and public and private banks.
The owner of the institution, Miguel Fishand the general manager Agostino Torcassi, asked them to provide external lines of finance. And, in return, they offered banks and energy companies dollar-adjusted peso bills (LEDIV) to match interest-bearing deposits and cover excess pesos.
The government has $5 billion from the Chinese swap to intervene in the market. From China, Sergio Massa is trying to increase the amount available up to 8,000 million dollars and now I might add up to $3 billion for the postponement of imports.
The opposite are i costs What companies have to pay to borrow for a year with a rate between 6 and 7% in dollarsalthough some can be recovered with export streams.
To lower the financial cost, exporters could buy LEDIV. According to the latest data from the BCRA, these letters now total 1,800 million dollars. Most correspond to bank-cleared deposits against dollar-adjusted instruments.
But in the private sector they recognize that the system in place ultimately depends on the “Argentine risk” that companies want to take on next year.
Grain companies say the scheme excludes them, as it provides for the use of export finance for imports to 365 dayswhen suppliers of agricultural inputs do not sell for more than 180 days.
“You can only do this with your parent company, but importing fertilizers and agrochemicals is done with unrelated companies in China, Russia, Ukraine and Morocco,” he said. Gustav Idigorahead of the oil and wheat chamber (CIARA-CEC).
Since October the SIRA import system has resulted in deferred payment for 60, 90 and 180 days depending on company size, with some exceptions (Healthcare, Energy and Capital Goods).
Due to arrears, the debt of importers increased in April of 370 million dollarsTherefore it would reach 10.8 billion dollars from January 2022. And imported cars, mainly from Brazil, have gone from representing the 75% of patents in 2019 to the 28% in 2023according to ACARA data.
Source: Clarin
