The government added uncertainty and the blue dollar hit $ 317, the most expensive on the market

The blue dollar continues to rise and is already reaching the $ 317. With a jump of sixteen pesos in the day he won the race against the dollar counted with liqui, the one used by companies, and became the most expensive on the market. With this move he reached out the gap with the wholesale dollar at 145%.

Blue’s $ 317 marks a nominal record, but if you take into account the impact of inflation it is still far from the $ 195 it hit in October 2020, which at today’s prices is equivalent to $ 420.

In this wheel, the dollar counted five pesos, a $ 308.75. As happened on Tuesday, the operations in the CCL were contained by “calls” from officials to prevent big players from operating in this segment and by the intervention of official bodies that sell bonds to lower the price of the operation. This has made the CCL rise less than the blue and will no longer lead the alternative podium of the dollar, as has happened in recent months.

Once again, the escalation of alternative dollars was fueled in part by government statements. This time it was Gabriela Cerruti, official spokesperson, who added anxiety by saying that the blue dollar “has no impact on the real economy” and anticipating that they will make announcements. “in the next few days or next week.”

“I have to fight against those who speculate,” the president said in an act, as the blue dollar rose at a rate of more than three pesos per hour. So far in July the informal went up 80 pesosin a whirlwind accelerated by the resignation of former Economy Minister Martín Guzmán and facing greater restrictions for companies to access the official dollar.

So far, the only concrete thing is that they are studying a scheme to allow foreign tourists to access an exchange rate that will make them stop selling their dollars in blue. Today, foreigners choose to come up with greenbacks and sell them $ 307 – the tip for informal purchase – instead of paying by card and having the bank take their dollars at $ 130.

This exacerbated the shortage of foreign exchange as tourists who opted for the “saplings” or the “concierge dollar” left $ 1.2 billion so far this year.

“The whole discussion about the tourist dollar is so childish it’s scary. We need measures that generate credibility, genuine supply of dollars, investments and several years of great collective effort. Stop fantasizing about easy solutions because there aren’t any, “said economist Javier Timerman.

The vagueness of the announcements gave more fuel to the blue, also reinforced by the tension in the government coalition that this Wednesday took shape in the cries of Juan Grabois asking that Alberto Fernández establish the universal salary and warning that they could leave “street blood”.

Amid this climate, Central sold $ 40 million to meet importers’ demand, who took $ 100 million to cover energy purchases. To Miguel Angel Pesce and his team So far this week they have already left him $ 290 million and close to $ 1,000 million in the month.

Despite the bleeding of currencies and the jump of free dollars, the economic team tried to appear calm. “We must resist until the liquidation of the camp”, slip the officials referring to the fact that 73% of the soybean crop has not yet been sold.

The Government’s interpretation is that the pace of marketing of oilseeds is slowing down because the sector assumes a devaluation or a drop in export withholdings, something that the Palazzo del Tesoro categorically excludes.

“We have already experienced something similar in 2020 and the situation at that time was worse“, underline the officials, referring to those days in October when the exchange rate differential reached 150%.

“The cash race with liqui ended in October 2020 with an increase of about 14 points in the interest rate, and with announcements on the reduction of the fiscal deficit – ending with the IFE and restitution of transitional advances -. Today we need something similar or more, and political support. Difficult, ”economist Miguel Kiguel tweeted.

“The dollar doesn’t stop by itself or by the law of gravity. We need economic policies that give confidence. With the current level of reserves and without measures, it will be difficult for the exchange rate to calm down. Monetary, currency and fiscal policy must be rethought, “Kiguel said.

This Thursday, Minister Silvina Batakis will lead the economic cabinet meeting minutes before the dollar opens. There are no certainties that concrete announcements will come out, but it will be the first signal to which the market will pay attention to scan the pulse of the exchange rate.

AQ