The bond launched by the government to reduce debt to importers got off to a weaker start than expected. In the first race of the Bond for the Reconstruction of a Free Argentina (BOPREAL) Only $68 million was awarded out of a total offered of $750 million.
With this tool the objective is to begin to reduce the liabilities accumulated by imports that currently exceed the threshold 60 billion dollarsaccording to official calculations.
The expectation in financial institutions is this The BCRA allocates between 6,000 and 12,000 million dollars, a third of what it expects from the government. The bond will have a secondary market and can also be used to pay tax debts a maximum ceiling of 3.5 billion dollars.
It is a long-term dollar bond, paying a rate of 5% per year. It is designed for large companies. To make it more palatable, the Government offers various sweeteners. One of these is that for the payment of the debt the pesos will be taken at the value of the MEP dollar, in force today $953higher than that of the official dollar at which it is quoted $808.
This first tender is part of the periodic auction program which is expected to last until the end of January 2024. The next placement will take place tomorrow, Friday.
“The result of the first BOPREAL race left a very poor place. Given the complexity of this Series 1 bond, we will see if demand increases in the weekly BOPREAL tenders to be held in January,” they said of Aurum Valores.
“The BOPREAL started with little interest, as we said, such a low gap does not close with the basic idea of a bonus for importers. We will see how things go, if imports take off and, after the seasonal peak, if the gap recovers, things could be different,” economist Gabriel Caamaño, director of Consultora Ledesma, said via Twitter.
Furthermore, today the BCRA published communication A 7935 which establishes the extension until 31 January 2024 of the benefit of access to the Free Foreign Exchange Market starting from 1 February 2024 to cancel debts for imports pending on 12 December 2023 for up to 5 % of the nominal value of BOPREAL Series 1 acquired through primary auction, to the extent that the aggregate of this instrument represents at least 50% of the total debt.
From 1 April 2024, the possibility of access in foreign currency has also been established through the sale of securities with settlement in foreign currency up to the amount equivalent to the difference between the nominal value of the BOPREAL Series 1 purchased at the primary auction and the value obtained from their foreign exchange settlement abroad, if applicable.
Source: Clarin
