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 September.

Main aspects

The world economy continues to go through a health and economic crisis in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with impacts on both the level of global and local activity, trade flows and capital movements. In recent months, the BCRA implemented regulatory modifications that affect the foreign exchange market (Communication “A” 7030 and its amendments, and Communication “A” 7106, among others) in order to promote a more efficient allocation of foreign currency. In this context, the customers of the entities, and the latter, bought USD 1,536 million and USD 101 million, respectively, in the foreign exchange market, totaling USD 1,637 million, which were sold by the BCRA. Additionally, the monetary authority made sales directly to the National Treasury for USD 337 million.

The real sector was a net buyer of foreign currency for USD 590 million.

Within this group, the main sector in terms of historical net sales, “Oilseeds and Cereals”, recorded net revenues of USD 1,579 million, with a reduction of 12% compared to those recorded in the same period of 2019. This level of income was in line with estimates of net exports of goods, which would imply that the sector would have slowed down the cancellation of debt for advances and pre-financing of exports observed during much of the year. The level of foreign indebtedness of the sector for export financing continues at minimum levels.

The “Real Sector excluding Oilseeds and Cereals”, on the other hand, was a net buyer in the market with a total of USD 2,169 million, which meant an increase in its net purchases of approximately USD 550 million compared to the previous month. The purchases were mainly intended to make net payments for goods and services, and to pay off financial debt.

“Individuals” bought USD 803 million on a net basis, basically for treasury tickets (USD 631 million, with a decrease of 16% compared to the previous month, as a result of the regulatory changes introduced in mid-September), and for expenses made with cards for consumption abroad (about USD 130 million, with a drop of 62% year-on-year, within the framework of the continuity of the closure of borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

The “Institutional investors and others” sector, both residents and non-residents, made net purchases in the month for USD 124 million.

The foreign exchange current account, which includes the net result of foreign exchange operations recorded as net exports of goods and services, and primary and secondary income, registered a deficit of USD 601 million, explained by net purchases by “Primary income” and “Services”.

The financial account of the “Non-Financial Private Sector” had a deficit of USD 1,098 million, as a result of the net formation of foreign assets and the net cancellations of financial debt.

The operations of the foreign exchange financial account of the “Financial Sector” resulted in a surplus of USD 205 million, explained by the decrease in the liquid foreign assets of the entities that make up the General Exchange Position (PGC) by USD 246 million, partially offset by the cancellations of financial debt and credit lines for USD 40 million.

The operations of the foreign exchange financial account of the “General Government and BCRA” resulted in a deficit of USD 208 million, mainly explained by the net outflows of debt and contributions to international organizations for a total of USD 206 million.

During September, the BCRA’s international reserves decreased by USD 1,463 million, ending the month at a level of USD 41,379 million.