:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/3HWTQNO2EVHBBMI73IBM55OFQA.jpg "The Central Bank bought only $4 million, while an adjustment to the reserve target agreed with the IMF is expected 1")
The Central Bank is having a very negative start to the year in its forays into the foreign exchange market, as it negotiates a relaxation of the targets for increasing net reserves established in the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a purpose of enabling future disbursements.
Financial Week: Dollar Bonds Rebound 6%, Central Bank Continues to Sell Reserves
While the Wall Street indices lost 3%, the S&P Merval barely moved and debt securities recovered, with a country risk below 2,000 points. The free dollar rose two pesos to $379
There the entity bought this Thursday a low figure of 4 million dollarsin a wholesale market whose spot volume fell by around $100 million from the previous session to $375.3 million.
BCRA reports net sales of USD 36 million in March in MULC and comes from February net sales For $878 million, an all-time high for the second month of the year, due to the drop in agricultural sales due to the drought. During the year 2023, the negative balance of the Central in the MULC reaches 1,106 million dollars.
The ace Reservations BCRA gross exchange rose $4 million on Wednesday and ended at 38.720 million of dollars.
In February, those who decided to save in free dollars lost against inflation, the fixed term and the official price
At the start of the year, the wholesale exchange rate benefited from the free dollar, which fell six pesos in February, so it again lost the race against higher prices.
As part of an agreement with the IMF in 2022, the Government is negotiating a reduction in the required volume of reserves with the Central Bank, when the the drought in the countryside complicates the liquidation of dollars. According to Ciara (Chamber of Petroleum Industry of the Argentine Republic) and CEC (Cereal Export Center), foreign exchange settlement by the agro-export sector recorded a 30.5% drop over one month in January, and a contraction of 74.2% over one year, standing at $644.9 million. During the first two months, only 1,573.3 million dollars were settled, a minimum since it is a record.
The influx of currencies in February reflects a market strongly affected by the extreme drought which drastically reduced the production of the good harvest and the production of premium maize.
BCRA sold $28 million in the market and closed the week with a negative balance
The monetary entity had made marginal purchases during the previous two rounds. In February, it records net sales of $930 million in MULC
“Given that 2023 is the paradox of being an election year and an IMF-required fiscal adjustment, the relaxation of the reserve target – which will be announced soon, according to the press – does not set a good precedent, because it could be replicated fiscally with the same rationale for drought,” experts warned. Personal Portfolio Investments.
As in January, the bilateral trade balance of trade in goods with the main trading partner returned to deficit for Argentina in the second month of 2023. Strictly speaking: the trade deficit with Brazil was USD 372 million in February, which implies a growth of 54.8% compared to the same month last year, when the bilateral red was $241 million.
“Thus, the largest monthly bilateral trade deficit of the last 56 months has been reached -since June 2018-, which, given the delicate situation in terms of the BCRA’s reserves, turns on the yellow lights -and augurs a greater adjustment in imports. The aforementioned deficit was a consequence of imports and exports – from and to Brazil – which reached $1,317 million and $944 million, respectively,” analysts from the consultancy explained. Abeceb.
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