ON December 27, the national government launched the BOPREAL (Bond for the Reconstruction of a Free Argentina) on the market, a bond to cancel the BCRA’s debt to importers. What makes this bonus relevant? In principle, ease the pressure on the reserves of the BCRA, since the registered private foreign debt was calculated at 62 billion dollars, although the register opened by the Ministry of Commerce accumulates, so far, only $28 billion. Registration closes January 24th.
Demand from importers was low in the first two editions: in the first auction it only obtained a purchase of 60 million dollars, and in the second only 57 million dollars. However, this Thursday, and especially thanks to the growing gap between the financial dollar and the official dollar, the BOPREAL Series 1 auction had a better reception from importers: they placed 1,179 million dollars, for a total so far of 1,304 million dollars.
The important thing is that this Friday The secondary market is already open of Bopreal. That is, whoever received it in the tender can now sell it for a dollar bill. The prices traded yesterday were around $72.4.
In an analysis this week, the consultancy firm Delphos Investments did this exercise: “If we assume that the SERIES I bond can be sold for US$78 In the secondary market, it would allow the holder to acquire a dollar amount equal to 78% of the subscribed par value through the sale of such bonds, and the dollar equivalent to the remaining 22% of the nominal value could be obtained by purchasing dollars cash with balance. From this it follows that, for every 100 nominal of BOPREAL, 78 dollars can be purchased at an implicit exchange rate ofand $1,041 and $22 at the CCL (today $971). Weighting each exchange rate by the number of dollars purchased at each price gives an implied value of $1,026 per dollar.
Speaking with a UIA representative, he stressed that the sector is on edge, not just because of the debt to suppliers, but due to high hedging costs which imply pressure on production costs. The shortage of dollars has been playing tricks on the sector for some time now.
He also clarified that imports and therefore production have been losing dynamism for a year now not finding mechanisms to resolve the debt. And he goes on to say that although this bonus has meant help for the sector, as he notes that the government is looking for alternatives, there are still pending issues related to the production facilities of the importers. In general terms, the title is well received and the signals towards the market are positive.
In response to those who are the most affected, taking into consideration the production segment, he suggested that all segments, be they large or small importers, all suffer equally, but The SME sector needs to have faster solutions as its “financial support” is less.
The small importer faces the difficulty of not being able to negotiate with its suppliers like a large importer does, so this segment, which is not minor, will have to have some type of alternative that reduces its costs.
Borpreal is a financial asset denominated in dollars with an annual rate of 5%, the issuance of which has a duration of 1 and 5 years. The idea is that it is marketed on the secondary market and acts as “exchange rate equalizer”. According to experts, the BCRA authorities plan to launch periodic tenders until January 24 for BOPREAL series 1, to access this title importers must register in the trade debt register for imports at the AFIP.
For now the government has won the first round, since with this it manages to alleviate the pressure on liabilities and on the demand for dollars (Cash with Settlement), however it will be necessary to closely observe the evolution of the demand for this security therefore closely linked to the fluctuations of exchange rates and their impact on the real economy.
Source: Clarin
