Informe de Evolución del Mercado de Cambios y Balance Cambiario

This report analyzes the evolution of purchases and sales of foreign currency in the foreign exchange market, corresponding to April.

Main aspects

In April, the Central Bank again made net purchases through the foreign exchange market, this time for USD 1,445 million, which allowed the BCRA’s international reserves to increase in the month by USD 669 million.

The domestic and global economy continues to undergo a gradual recovery from the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted both the level of global and local activity, trade flows and capital movements. In recent months, the BCRA has implemented regulatory modifications that affect the foreign exchange market in order to promote a more efficient allocation of foreign currency. In this context, the clients of the entities and they sold USD 1,350 million and USD 96 million net in the foreign exchange market, respectively, which were purchased by the BCRA. Likewise, the National Treasury made direct purchases from the BCRA for USD 151 million.

The real sector was a net seller of foreign currency for USD 1,677 million. Within this group, the main sector in terms of net sales in the foreign exchange market, “Oilseeds and Cereals”, recorded net revenues of USD 3,267 million. In a context of high international prices of agricultural commodities, this level was a record for the month of April and more than doubled the revenues recorded in the same period of 2020. Revenues from collections of exports of goods were at levels higher than customs flows from FOB exports, which would imply an increase in the level of commercial indebtedness of the sector.

The “Real Sector excluding Oilseeds and Cereals”, on the other hand, was a net buyer in the foreign exchange market with a total of USD 1,590 million. The purchases were mainly intended to make payments for imports of goods and services, and to pay off financial debt. “Individuals” bought USD 152 million on a net basis, basically for expenses made with cards for consumption with non-resident suppliers (about USD 81 million, showing a drop of 25% compared to the previous month, in the context of the continuity of the COVID-19 pandemic) and for hoarding (USD 46 million in banknotes, with a decrease of 21% compared to the previous month and 76% year-on-year).

The “Institutional investors and others” sector, both resident and non-resident, made net purchases in the month for USD 126 million.

The foreign exchange current account, which includes net flows from net exports of goods and services and primary and secondary income, registered a surplus of USD 1,519 million. This result was mainly explained by the positive net result for “Goods” for USD 1,933 million, which also constituted a record for the month of April, partially offset by net purchases for “Primary income” and “Services”.

The foreign exchange financial account of the “Non-Financial Private Sector” had a deficit of USD 217 million in the month, highlighting the net cancellations of financial debt for USD 279 million.

The operations of the foreign exchange financial account of the “Financial Sector” resulted in a surplus of USD 459 million, basically explained by the decrease in the liquid foreign assets of the entities that make up the General Exchange Position (PGC) by USD 467 million.

The operations of the foreign exchange financial account of the “General Government and BCRA” resulted in a deficit of USD 221 million, mainly explained by the net cancellation of financial debt.