Main aspects
In the fourth quarter of 2013, the operations of entities authorized to operate in foreign exchange with their clients in the Single and Free Exchange Market (MULC) showed a deficit of US$ 5,940 million. To meet this demand, the Central Bank made net sales in the foreign exchange market for US$ 5,027 million and made net payments for foreign trade operations channeled through the Local Currency Payment System in force with Brazil (SML) and by ALADI for US$ 236 million in the quarter. Likewise, the payments of capital services and interest on the public sector’s foreign currency debt of around US$ 1,140 million were highlighted in the period.
The BCRA’s international reserves decreased by US$ 4,142 million in the quarter, reaching a stock of US$ 30,599 million at the end of 2013, a level that represented approximately 45% of the public external debt.
The operations of the current account of the foreign exchange balance resulted in a deficit of US$ 7,315 million. The increase of about US$ 3,800 million in the deficit compared to the same quarter of the previous year was basically due to lower net income from goods and higher net payments for services and profits and dividends, effects that were partly offset by the lower interest drawings of the National Government, which this year did not have to pay interest on debt coupons tied to GDP growth.
Revenues from collections of exports of goods totaled US$ 16,316 million, which implied a decrease of 16% in year-on-year terms. The export sector of oilseeds, oils and cereals, the main sector with export collections in the MULC, registered export settlements for a total of US$ 4,583 million, with a drop of 20% compared to the same period of the previous year. For its part, the rest of the sectors as a whole recorded export revenues of US$ 11,733 million, showing a year-on-year drop of around 14%.
Payments for imports of goods recorded in the exchange balance totaled US$ 19,241 million, with a year-on-year increase of 10% and a fall of 5% compared to the immediately previous quarter.
The capital and financial account of the foreign exchange balance registered a surplus of US$ 3,369 million, mainly as a result of the increase in foreign currency deposits of financial institutions in the BCRA, basically from the application of third-party funds pending arrangement, higher deposits from the public sector and the net collection of loans in foreign currency. with an improvement of about US$ 1,400 million compared to the same period in 2012.
