Supported largely by dollars received through new disbursements from international organizations, The central bank’s gross or total reserves (BCRA) increased by $596 million to $43,610 million today, reaching their highest level in the “Milei era”.
This holding exceeds and reaches the previous high of $43,014 million that it reached last August the highest level in almost three years (To find a higher amount, you have to go back to January 2023.) So it rose by $1,192 million in a week.
This was all thanks to the above-mentioned income from international financial organizations and the strong growth in gold value was recorded (which is already up 71% so far this year and has set records again in recent days).
You have to remember that The BCRA has 1.98 million ounces of the precious metal, which was quoted today at $4,561 and, according to calculations by economist Fernando Marull from the consulting firm FMyA, has already traded contributed to an improvement of just over $3.9 billion in international reserves.
At the moment, Gold accounts for more than $9 billion in this total inventory. (20.75%) and contributes half of that to exchange with China (equivalent to about 18.3 billion US dollars) and about two-thirds of what the reserve requirement for deposits is in dollars.
The latter include the Treasury deposits in dollars, which had exceeded $2000 million last week (driven by local bond placement and block purchases outside the official exchange market), although this week they fell by about $200 million, which would be related Selling interventions to keep the note stable at around $1,450 at the wholesale level ahead of the debut of the new replacement band update criteria in January.
“The Treasury dollar account at the BCRA, which had exceeded $2,000 million 10 days ago, shows a value of nearly $1,850 million in the latest records, an indication that the Treasury may have used some of the purchased dollars to contain upward pressure on the exchange rate,” said a report by consultancy LCG.
It is a fact that the market follows very closely, with a view to the payment of the debt incurred with the bondholders in the amount of $4,200, which must be made on January 9th.
For this reason, news is expected following the signing of the contracts for the concession and transfer of shares in the dams in the Comahue region: Alicurá, El Chocón, Piedra del Águila and Cerros Colorados. With this privatization and the beginning of the operational transition to the awarded companies, the There are approximately $700 million in revenue associated with this operation.
However, the balance of gross reserves does not hide the fragility of the BCRA’s net holdings. that according to market calculations remains negative by nearly $16 billion, if the criteria by which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) measures them are followed.
This once again resulted in the Milei government failing to meet the accumulation target promised to the organization (revised downwards twice), which will force the government to request a new one waiveR (Forgiveness or deliverance). “There is a deviation or gap from the target revised in the initial review, which is just over $11.15 billion.”stated by LCG.
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