In January, only 138,000 people They bought dollars for the allowed quota of 200 dollars a month, 72% less than in December and 86% less than a year ago, according to data from the Central Bank. In July 2020, the peak of 3,900,000 buyers was reached.
It is that with the devaluation of the peso, from 13 December 2023, in addition to the restrictions still in force, The “savings dollar” has become more expensive (today about $1,370) compared to the blue dollar and other financial dollars because taxes are added to the value of the official dollar (860 dollars) “for hoarding reasons” with an overall surtax of 60%: 30% PAIS tax and the remaining 30% as collection of taxes, earnings.
Instead, 4,947 million dollars arrived from exports, and there were some import payments of 1,068 million dollars, A 74% below January 2023.
The BCRA report highlights that payments for imports of goods in January were less than FOB imports of goods, which amounted to approximately $4,372 million, “which would indicate an increase in corporate debt or a decrease in external activities”.
However, the report adds, “it is important to highlight that the BCRA allocated in January the entire amount offered for BOPREAL series 1 for VN5,000 million.” The BOPREAL is a BCRA bond for the payment of outstanding debts with importers.
The BCRA report indicates that in January, international reserves increased by $4,569 million, closing the month at a level of $27,642 million. On the foreign exchange market, net purchases were made by the BCRA for 3,272 million dollars, net capital disbursements from the International Monetary Fund of US$2,708 million (SDR 2,035 million) were received and Central Bank banks’ foreign currency holdings increased by $917 million.
On the other hand, foreign currency comes from net payments of interest and other financial debts of the general government and the BCRA for 1,677 million dollars and of international organizations for 474 million dollars. Additionally, the US dollar price of assets constituting reserves decreased by $166 million and net payments settled by the BCRA through the Local Currency Payment System by $11 million.
This data explains that with the dollar income from the settlement of exports of goods and services exceeding the payment of imports by 3,963 million dollars, the current account of the foreign exchange balance will record a surplus of only 1,964 million dollars in January. The difference is mainly due to interest payments (2,000 million dollars).
Source: Clarin
