Executive Summary
Net FDI flows in 2015 totaled US$ 13,283 million1, with a fall of 21% compared to the previous year. The reinvestment of profits was the most important component, reaching US$ 6,184 million, followed by net contributions that reached an amount of US$ 4,290 million and new debt operations with related companies for about US$ 2,974 million.
Despite the high reinvestment ratio in 2015, reinvestment flows showed a year-on-year drop of 16%, mainly due to the negative results shown by FDI companies in the mining and oil sectors.
Contributions in cash and goods or rights reached US$ 3,825 million during 2015, with net income through the Single and Free Exchange Market (MULC) for about US$ 1,350 million, that is, 35% of the total. It should be noted that during the first half of 2016, there was an 80% year-on-year increase in the contributions settled through the MULC, reversing the downward trend observed in the foreign exchange market since the maximum recorded during the first half of 2012.
Debt flows with related companies increased as a result of both new trade financing amounting to US$ 2,284 million, basically explained by imports of services (US$ 1,414 million) and goods (US$ 509 million), and financial debt flows, which totaled about US$ 690 million and which basically responded to the increase in debts of profits and dividends made available and not transferred for US$ 598 million.
As of December 31, 2015, the estimated gross passive position of FDI in Argentine companies reached a value of US$ 80,266 million, experiencing a year-on-year decrease of 13%. Of this total, 64% corresponded to shares in the value of the net worth (NP) of companies (US$ 51,493 million) and about US$ 28,800 million (34%) to gross indebtedness with related companies abroad.
The oil sector continued to be the main destination for FDI in the country, with a gross passive FDI position of US$ 15,646 million (17% of the total), registering a fall compared to the previous year of about US$ 2,700 million (15% year-on-year). For its part, the United States was once again the main origin of FDI in the country, with a stock of US$ 19,800 million, which represented 25% of the total position.
The first five FDI companies concentrated a value of US$ 10,645 million (13% of the estimated stock), with the oil sector standing out, which accounted for 55% of this value.
