Miguel Pesce. BCRA has made a proposal on the ground
The Central Bank has announced a mechanism by which it will try to do this encourage greater liquidation of soy. opened a window Until August 31st with a “sweetener” so that producers decide to sell part of the grains they currently have in a silobag or other type of storage.
– The Central’s proposal is as follows: to producers who sell their grains a higher exchange rate will not be paidbut they will open the door for them so that they can do two things with the pesos they get for soybeans.
1. With 30% of the pesos they get will be able to buy dollars at the value of the so-called “solidarity dollar” (which today is in $ 240 pesos). Since this price includes AFIP retention on the Profit account, the Central considers it the exchange rate obtained is lower than this pricebut this discount will depend on the inflation that accumulates between the time of purchase and the day on which said advance is turned over in the subsequent settlement of Profit. For the BCRA, considering the down payment, this is a $ 200 exchange.
2. 70% of the remaining pesos can be deposited in a special current account exclusively for producers and collectors who it will offer a daily variable remuneration based on the evolution of the A3500 exchange rate (wholesale dollar), known as the Dollar Link. This checking account, as its name indicates, is a Visible deposit, that is, weights are always available. And it can remain open even after August 31st.
Do the math. I haveand the soy in Rosario was paid – net of withholdings – $ 49,000. In case of acceptance of the proposal launched by the BCRA, the producer could allocate $ 14,700 for the purchase of dollars at a “solidarity” price. that is, I would get $ 61.25. If you applied those same pesos to buy the MEP dollar today, you would only get $ 45.6.
another possible account: with the $ 49,000 the manufacturer can today receive $ 152 at MEP value. With the BCRA offer you could get US $ 167 dollars, nearly 10% more dollars. This could be the actual improvement, in dollars, offered to the manufacturer. In this case, they would pay $ 293 for the one dollar bill, 10% less than the MEP.
In dialogue with a group of journalists, via zoom, the head of the BCRA, Miguel Pesce, He assured that the measure aims to respond to a claim by agricultural producers. The claim: that there are no financial instruments that allow them preserve the value of the pesos obtained from the sale of soybeans.
Pesce added that the 30% that allows them to apply to the purchase of dollars at the value of the solidarity dollar equates the situation of soybean producers to that of other exporters, such as the knowledge, manufacturing or energy industries. “With this we hope to correct the difficulties expressed by producers regarding the marketing of soy, which, on the other hand, is lagging behind the advances of previous years”.
He also admitted it it did not carry out preliminary consultations with the agricultural sector on how this announcement would be received. He said that to understanding him, there is a delay in liquidation of soy equal to approximately 2,500 million dollarseven if he wouldn’t say how many dollars could be attracted by the announcement made last night.
In response to a question about this submission, Pesce did not agree to report the delay in the sale of soybeans – compared to last year – with the significant widening of the exchange rate gapwhich last year was not 100% and is now close to 160%.
But there is no doubt that this is not the analysis of the producers, who see how the difference between the dollar they receive for their production and what is paid for the dollar in the financial market widens.
However, and regardless of the result you get, this measure appears after a very hot week, in which the Government – from President Alberto Fernández onwards – has once again identified the responsibility for the lack of dollars and the haste of recent days in the agricultural sector.
It is worth mentioning that the cereals sector was liquidated in the first half of the year for over $ 19 billion, about 20% more dollars for the same semester last year. Logically, due to this increase in liquidations, the Treasury, through withholding, also remained with more resources.
Gustavo Bazzan
Source: Clarin
