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 June.

Main aspects

In June, the Central Bank again made net purchases through the foreign exchange market, this time for USD 766 million, which allowed the BCRA’s international reserves to increase in the month by USD 565 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 611 million and USD 155 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 210 million.

The real sector was a net seller of foreign currency for USD 922 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 3,603 million. In a context of high international prices of agricultural products and in line with the expected seasonal behavior of the sector, a year-on-year increase of 67% was observed. Revenues from the collection of exports of goods in the sector were at levels higher than customs flows from FOB exports by about USD 500 million, which would imply a further increase in the level of commercial debt in 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 2,681 million. The purchases were mainly intended to make payments for imports of goods and services, and to pay off financial debt.

“Individuals” bought USD 241 million on a net basis, basically for expenses made with cards for consumption with non-resident suppliers (about USD 133 million, showing an increase of 29% compared to the previous month, in the context of the continuity of the COVID-19 pandemic) and for hoarding (USD 76 million in banknotes, with an increase of 53% compared to the previous month and a decrease of 88% year-on-year).

The “Institutional investors and others” sector, both residents and non-residents, made net purchases in the month for USD 41 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 1,254 million. This result was mainly explained by the positive net result for “Goods” for USD 1,769 million, 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 601 million in the month, highlighting the net cancellations of financial debt for USD 670 million.

The operations of the foreign exchange financial account of the “Financial Sector” resulted in a deficit of USD 255 million, basically explained by the increase in the liquid foreign assets of the entities that make up the General Exchange Position (PGC).

On the other hand, the operations of the foreign exchange financial account of the “General Government and BCRA” resulted in a deficit of USD 70 million.