Private Sector External Debt Report

This quarterly report analyses the evolution of the external debt of the private sector, with an opening at the level of the main debt instruments.

The external debt of the private sector totaled USD 91,364 million as of 30.09.22, registering a quarterly increase of USD 7,128 million, explained by the increase in commercial debt since financial debt showed net cancellations in the third quarter.

The commercial external debt of the private sector totaled USD 52,266 million as of 09/30/22, with an increase of USD 7,692 million in the quarter and USD 15,076 million in the year-on-year comparison. The external debt for exports of goods totaled USD 10,647 million as of 09/30/22, the highest value since the beginning of the series, showing an increase of USD 4,797 million compared to the previous quarter and USD 4,142 million compared to the end of the same period in 2021. This increase is explained by the impact of the “Export Increase Program” through which, through Decree 576/22, an exchange rate of $200 for every USD 1 was established for settlements in the foreign exchange market for exports of soybeans and their derivatives, effective until September 30, 2022.

The external debt for imports of goods totaled USD 31,113 million as of 30.09.22, registering a maximum value since the beginning of the series. Compared to the end of the previous quarter, it showed an increase of USD 2,295 million and an increase of USD 8,888 million in the year-on-year comparison. The record of this debt would be mainly explained by the effect of the adjustments to foreign regulations and changes in terms of import payments.

External debt for services reached USD 10,506 million as of 09/30/22, registering an increase of USD 600 million compared to the previous quarter and accumulating an increase of USD 2,047 million in the year-on-year comparison.

The external financial debt of the private sector totaled USD 39,098 million as of 09/30/22, with net cancellations of USD 565 million in the quarter and USD 2,559 million compared to 09/30/21. The decline in the quarter was mainly explained by the category of debt securities for USD 243 million and financial loans for USD 191 million.

As of 16.09.20, through Communication “A” 7106 and later through Communication “A” 7230, “A” 7422 and “A” 7466, in line with the efforts made by the National State and after having successfully completed the process of restructuring sovereign debt in foreign currency, the BCRA established the guidelines under which private sector companies could initiate a process of refinancing their financial debts with foreign currency and/or local debt securities denominated in foreign currency, which would allow its maturity profile to be adapted to the guidelines required for the normal functioning of the foreign exchange market. In this context, the renegotiations recorded during the third quarter of 2022 had an impact on lower net purchases in the foreign exchange market of about USD 556 million compared to the original maturities for that same period. In this way, lower net payments of about USD 4,000 million were accumulated from the issuance of the original rule until the end of September 2022.