The private sector’s foreign obligations registered an increase of US$ 2,229 million in
the first quarter of the year, totaling US$ 55,443 million at the end of March. Of this total,
US$ 49,460 million (89%) corresponded to the declarations filed by the non-financial
private sector (NFPS) and US$ 5,983 million (11%) to the external liabilities recorded by the private financial sector
(SPF).
The increase was mainly concentrated in NFPS, with its external liabilities growing by US$ 2,071
million. For its part, the external obligations of the SPF increased for the fourth consecutive quarter
, increasing by US$ 158 million in the first quarter of the year.
The increase in the external liabilities of the NFPS occurred in all categories, highlighting the debt
for imports of goods that grew by US$ 1,069 million and for financial loans that grew
by US$ 448 million. On the other hand, obligations for advance payments and pre-financing of
exports increased by US$ 206 million due to higher net financing from exporters
outside the oilseeds, cereals and oils sales complex.
The NFPS received fresh financial funds for US$ 708 million, corresponding entirely to
financial loans, which were granted 46% by companies of the same group, 27% by
financial institutions and 22% by international organizations. Unlike what had
been observed in recent quarters, in which a considerable part of the fresh
funds were used to pay off previous liabilities, either at maturity or before maturity, only 3% of
those received in the quarter were applied to debt cancellation. In addition to the 22%
coming from international organizations, another 65% of the funds were allocated to investment in
non-financial assets. The main sectors that received fresh funds were food,
beverages and tobacco (US$ 198 million), oil (US$ 178 million) and mining (US$ 75 million).
The commercial credit lines taken by the SPF grew for the eighth consecutive quarter,
reaching a stock of US$ 718 million as of 03/31/2008. The increase of US$ 107 million (17%)
in the quarter was mainly allocated to import financing (US$ 82 million) and
the rest to export financing (US$ 25 million).
The SPF received fresh financial funds in the quarter for a total of US$ 174 million,
instrumented exclusively in the form of securities transfer operations, which were
mostly applied to the cancellation of maturities abroad.
The average maturity of private external debt as of 03/31/08 stood at 2.12 years. The average life of
the NFPS’ external debt was in the order of 2 years, while this variable for the SPF
reached 3.25 years
