Results of the First Auction of BOPREAL Series 1 Bonds

The first auction of the dollar-denominated securities called BOPREAL Series 1—which stands for Bonds for the Reconstruction of a Free Argentina in Spanish—has been announced in Communication B12697 on December 22, 2023, and concluded today.

This is part of a periodic auction program which is expected to take place until the end of January 2024, as stated in the press release dated December 22, 2023. In line with the press release, the BCRA has held the first auction of BOPREAL Series 1 before obtaining the relevant information from the registry of foreign commercial debts. This measure seeks to let importers make an early payment of their commercial debts from imports of goods and services that occurred through December 12, 2023, as under Communication A7917. Once the registry of foreign commercial debts has been analyzed, the BCRA will establish the maximum issuance amounts and set out award conditions for BOPREAL Series 2 and Series 3, which are expected to be auctioned from February 2024.

Thirty-four bids were submitted and awarded for a total nominal value of USD68 million. Participation is expected to increase as information about the operational procedures and required documents for subscription is released. In this regard, it should be noted that Series 1 may in no case exceed the total aggregate issuance of USD5,000 million (nominal value) determined for Series 1A, 1B and 1C. These series may be used for discharging tax and customs obligations, as set forth in Resolution 5469/2023 of the Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP, in Spanish) and Executive Order 72/2023. Communication A7935 was posted in this site today. It enables importers of goods and services that subscribe BOPREAL Series 1 bonds before January 31, 2024, to access the Free Foreign Exchange Market from February 1, 2024, to settle outstanding debts from imports that occurred until December 12, 2023, for up to 5% of the nominal value of the BOPREAL Series 1 acquired in primary auctions, on condition that the amount of these bonds equals at least 50% of the total debt of such importer according to the registry of foreign commercial debts. Additionally, it sets out that these importers that subscribe BOPREAL in primary auctions are to exclude from their affidavits the sale of securities settled in foreign currency abroad or the transfers of securities to depositories abroad occurring as from April 1, 2024, where the market value of these transactions does not exceed the difference between the sale value of BOPREAL acquired in the primary auction and settled in foreign currency abroad and its nominal value, if the latter is greater than the former.

The BCRA will announce new auctions for BOPREAL Series 1 tomorrow, with amounts and time frames similar to those offered this week.

December 28, 2023