The plant extends stocks to pay for imports until the end of the year

Companies saw it coming, but the news also fell like a blow. Yesterday the Central Bank extended until the end of the year “the obligation to finance imports for 180 days“, the measure expired on September 30. Therefore, most companies that want to bring goods into the country (inputs, components and machines) must obtain their own dollars to pay their suppliers.

In this way, the government extends import restrictions once again, in this case on reserves. This is the circular “A 7532”, entered into force on June 26 and this applies to non-automatic licenses (SIMI B), ie those purchases that require authorization. These permits were the responsibility of the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini, after the last change of the economic team.

The measure reveals the government’s concern about the lack of dollars. In March, the plant issued permits to pay for imports in two categories (A and B), which were insufficient to stem the drainage of reserves. In the middle of the year, Cristina Kirchner herself warned an “import party”, not to mention the hefty cost of the energy deficit. Despite strong liquidations for the “soybean dollar”, the obstacles will continue until 31 December.

From the Central they tried to soften the measure. They explain that since March «the obligation to finance 180 days allowed to generate trade credit of over US $ 5,000 million “ and that despite everything “the preliminary data for August show that imports remain at record levels, without considering the energy effect”. The other part of the story is that from this month the Central You will need to get rid of the foreign currency to pay off your debts.

The importing companies make another reading. They say that the obligation to obtain financing has consequences (some very difficult to calculate, such as reputation with foreign suppliers and even at multinational headquarters), which end up being reflected in prices. “Debt raises the cost of imports between 12 and 14%it depends on the operation, the size of the importer and the amount “, they complain.

The head of the plant, Miguel Pesce, tried to reassure the continuity of the import restrictions in several business meetings. On more than one occasion, he explained that the official dollar stock was a temporary measure accumulating reserves and expected to relax them in the latter part of the year. “When the consumption of energy imports decreases, we will go back“He said last June.

The government has also tightened the stirrups on the approval of the SIMI (Integral Import Monitoring System). Two weeks ago and just before leaving for the United States, the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, limited the imports of cars to kilometer 0 and also the purchases of supplies for the production of electronics. According to claims, this means savings of approximately $ 870 million for the rest of the year.