The private sector external debt totaled USD79,259 million as of March 31, 2021, recording a quarterly increase—USD1,573 million—for the first time after having decreased for 6 quarters in a row. This rise was exclusively due to the increase in commercial debt (up USD1,861 million), as financial debt continued with net payments of USD288 million in the first quarter.
In a context of increased external sales, the debt from exports of goods totaled USD6,232 million as of March 31, 2021, up USD817 million against the previous quarter. This was basically explained by a rise in the debt from exports of goods of USD703 million in “Manufacturing of food products”.
Imports of goods recovered after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade in 2020, giving rise to external debt for USD22,362 million by the end of Q1 2021, up USD787 million against the end of the previous quarter.
The external debt for services totaled USD8,151 million as of March 31, 2021, rising USD256 million against the end of the previous quarter (USD189 million for debt to related creditors and USD67 million for debt to non-related creditors).
The private sector financial external debt totaled USD42,515 million as of March 31, 2021, with net payments for USD288 million in the quarter, mainly due to a fall in non-residents’ deposits with local financial institutions for USD274 million, followed by net payments of financial loans for USD183 million, and net issue of debt securities amounted to USD161 million.
A sovereign debt restructuring process in foreign currency was successfully carried out by the National State. In symphony with this, the BCRA issued Communication “A” 7106 on September 16, 2020 to set out guidelines for private sector companies to refinance their foreign financial debts and/or local debt securities in foreign currency, so that they could meet the new requirements, thus ensuring the smooth functioning of the forex market. Thus, debt renegotiations of around 19 companies in Q1 2021 resulted in lower net purchases in the forex market—around USD413 million less compared to the amounts expected to be paid on the original maturities over that period.
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July 27, 2021.