In June, more dollars came out for energy and travel and less for soy

For higher payments energy importslower sales of soybeans e higher expenses for travel, tickets and other card payments, in June the foreign exchange current account was positive for just 522 million US dollars. A year ago, it showed a surplus of $ 1.254 million.

This stems from the evolution of the foreign exchange market and the Central Bank’s foreign exchange balance last month, before taking Silvina Batakis at the helm of the Ministry of Economy and the currency measures adopted in July.

According to the official report, “Import payments from the energy sector amounted to $ 1,965 million in the month, registering an increase year on year of 117% and 50% compared to the previous month, in line with the seasonality of imports in the sector ”.

For its part, the largest contributor to foreign exchange was the “Oilseeds and Grains” sector, which totaled sales of foreign currency for export receipts of goods through the foreign exchange market for USD 4,226 million, recording an increase year over year. by 2%.

However, the Report clarifies that “domestic maize marketing in June was at similar levels to those observed in the 2020/21 maize campaigns. For its part, grain purchases show dynamism and are above the levels observed in previous campaigns. In the opposite direction, the marketing of soybeans continued to suffer from delays compared to previous years: the 20 million tons marketed until the end of June represent 46% of the estimated harvest, when at the same date of the previous year 54% had been marketed, estimated at current prices, this difference is approximately 2,400 million dollars ”.

For its part, the billServices ”recorded a deficit of $ 896 million in June.

This result was mainly explained by the net charges for “Travel, Tickets and Other Card Payments ”,“ Freight and Insurance ”and“ Other Services ”for USD 655 million, USD 469 million and USD 14 million respectively. These movements were partially offset by net income from “Business, professional and technical services” of USD 214 million.

On the other hand, “885 thousand people made net purchases of 577 million dollars, essentially for expenses incurred with consumer cards from non-resident suppliers (with a net of 375 million dollars, up 17% compared to the previous month) and by hoarding (with a net of 157 million dollars for the purchase of tickets, a level 21% higher than the previous month) ”.

Meanwhile, BCRA’s international reserves increased by $ 1,226 million in June, “mainly due to disbursements from the International Monetary Fund of the equivalent of $ 1,326 million (SDR 3,000 million).”

Furthermore, “the net purchases of BCRAs on the foreign exchange market, partially offset by the decline in the US dollar price of the assets making up the reserves, the decline in the entities’ foreign currency holdings and net payments through the local monetary system”. .