After record inflation of 25.5% in December, the government issued a debt this Tuesday almost 4 trillion dollars with bonds adapted to the evolution of prices and negative rateswhich allowed us to cover the week’s deadlines and obtain additional funds in the first auction of the year.
With offers for almost three times the amount granted, The Ministry of Finance took advantage of the liquidity of the financial system – especially banking – encouraged by the reduction in the rates applied by the Central Bank on repurchase agreements, Leliq and fixed terms, thus forcing investors and small savers to take refuge in other assets.
In this context, the Ministry of the Treasury covered the $3 trillion owed this week and added another $900,000 million through the placement of two inflation-adjusted bonds (Lecer) in February and May, and a bond also linked to the price index (Boncer) until November 2025. In all three cases, with negative returns.
“It’s a good result, not only because it refinances this week’s maturities, which were $3 billion, a non-negligible figure, but it also gets net financing to service the debt with the BCRA, which eases the pressure on liabilities pay,” said Lucio Garay Méndez, of EcoGo.
The shorter letter captured less than 30% of the rod, with the rest going to the other two longer instruments. In the first case, the Treasury paid a Monthly return of 7.86%., when inflation of 18% is expected for February. And for the longer bond, it offered a return well below the market.
“The new May LECER was placed at CER -108.32% (annual), which based on our inflation projections for the coming months equates to a rate of 117.39%. And the longer bond was issued at CER -19.47%, which validates much of the decline we saw today,” explained Pedro Siaba Serrate, of PPI.
Although consultancies predict inflation of up to 280% in 2024, the appetite for stocks was such that Finance left out more than $4 billion. “This is positive,” said Garay Méndez, warning however that the result “complicates the fiscal accounts because it adds interest to be paid by the Treasury.”
The other weak flank is the exchange rate pressure fueled by inflation, negative rates and an official dollar at 2% monthly. In this context, the blue rose this Tuesday to 1,118 dollars and the liquidity to 1,213 dollars, with an increase of 25% on the month.
Source: Clarin
