But strictly speaking, if you look at the data from the Exchange Balance of the Central Bank remained in the “box” US$8,955 million. The difference is due to the fact that the monetary entity forced importers to postpone payments for US$5,909 million. In the first semester the Central recorded income for US$44,327 million, while it sold foreign currency to pay for purchases abroad for US$35,372 million.
Until May, the difference between “the cash” and the accrued amount was regarding US$4,000 million, but in June, the curb on the sale of foreign currency grew 50% compared to the accumulated figure for the year. From the Government they emphasize that there is no brake on imports, since the values that are handled are at record levels, but what is happening is that companies are being forced to seek financing to continue operating.
In the In the case of multinational companies, the problems are more limited, because it is common for there to be operations between subsidiaries. of the same group, for which the credit is assured. They also have more financial support to operate with banks abroad and assume the cost.
In the case of SMEs, there is a group of companies that are representatives of foreign brands and products, with decades of experience in the Argentine market that can negotiate longer terms with its suppliers than normal for foreign trade because they have sufficient credit. Suppliers know that operations with Argentina cyclically present these kinds of problems. The drawback manifests itself for SMEs that have to buy inputs or goods, and have less experience or are representatives.
Since June 27 when the BCRA launched resolution 7532, which forced companies that import products with non-automatic licenses to postpone payments for 180 days, controls have been tightened to the maximum. There is andCompanies that have complained that although they have authorization from the Ministry of Industry to import, the BCRA does not sell them dollars because they have a full foreign exchange quota for the year.
As long as the sixth month of the year, prior to the BCRA measure, andl INDEC reported imports for US$8,547 million, but the BCRA recorded sales for US$6,585 million, that is, US$1,962 million less. On the export side, the statistical agency reported US$8,432 million, and the Central, 8,263 million, that is, US$169 million more. In the case of sales, the differences are not relevant.
In this way, Although for the customs declarations in June there was a trade balance deficit of US$115 million, in reality, the flow of dollars in the tradables market was positive in US$1,678 million.
The amount of dollars that was used to pay for energy imports was US$1,965 million in June, US$579 million in electricity, US$34 million in gas and US$1,352 million in oil. In May they had been US$1,308 million, US$1,088 million in oil, US$17 million in gas, and US$203 million in electricity.
Beyond the seasonality that is mentioned as the main problem due to the scarcity of dollars, in June of last year, oil imports demanded only US$508 million. It can be assumed that the increase in international prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is responsible for an increase of 166% in the value of external purchases in the sector.
