HIl adjustment of peso debt linked to inflationand despite debt payments made last month, in March the stock of gross government debt increased by an amount equivalent to 16,507 million dollars. It was 386,537 million dollars 403,044 million dollars, according to the records of the Secretary of Finance.
Compared to the previous month, “the debt in a normal payment situation increased by the equivalent of 16,501 million dollars, equal to a monthly growth of 4.3%. The variation is explained by decrease in foreign currency debt In 514 million dollars and the increase in local currency debt for a dollar equivalent of $17,015 million.”
Of the total, Debt in pesos represents 35% and in foreign currency 65%.
After the strong liquefaction due to the devaluation in December, in January, February and March the peso debt jumped again due to the placement and variation of bonds and securities adjustable by the CER (Inflation) or linked to the dollar. In January they increased by an equivalent of 7,991 million dollars, in February by another 12,371 million dollars and in March by 15,521 million dollars:
In total they went from $370,673 million to $403,044 million in the first quarter of this year. To the extent that inflation rises above the change in the official exchange rate, dollar-valued peso debt should continue to rise, absorbing the December liquefaction.
The debt rectifiable by the CER went from the equivalent of 46,143 million dollars in December to 56,077 million dollars in January, to 74,662 million dollars in February and to 116,462 million dollars in March.
Over 90% of peso debt is contracted in CER bonds (which are adjusted for inflation) or linked to the dollar (which are adjusted to the official exchange rate), according to the Congressional Budget Office (CPO).
78% of the gross debt in a normal payment situation corresponds to Treasury securities and bills, 20% to obligations towards external official creditors, 1% corresponds to transitional advances and the remaining 1% to other instruments.
Debt to international organizations The amount amounts to 74,858 million dollars, of which 42,963 million dollars are deposited with the IMF.
This debt level does not include the debt of the Provinces and the Central Bank.
For its part, the International Reserves of the Central Bank (BCRA) closed the month of March with a balance of 27,127 million dollars versus 26,690 million dollars at the end of February, recording an increase of just $437 million, according to the BCRA Monetary Report. “This dynamic was primarily influenced by the buying and selling of currencies in the free foreign exchange market (MLC) of approximately $2,882 million, partially offset by payments to international organizations and decreases in minimum cash accounts.”
The Ministry of Finance clarifies that “due to the recommendations of statistical manuals and based on international definitions, the dollar is used as the unit of account to provide comparability and standardize statistics”.
Source: Clarin
