With the The International Monetary Fund’s annual review has not yet been dated and the Payout of $1,050 million questionablethe Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Central Bank activated a alternative financial plan: the negotiation of a REPO loan for $2,000 million with a consortium of international banks.
As it turned out, the operation was carried out final phase in the last 48 hours. The scheme is similar extended repo used in January and June this yearwith a structured loan a year or twosupported by Government bonds as security and with a direct impact on the BCRA gross reserves.
The central goal is to avoid the financial bottleneck in January without being exclusively dependent on something possible Waiver from the IMF, for which there is still no final guarantee Kristalina Georgieva.
According to Ámbito, the amount could Increase by another $300 millionalthough that part hasn’t been fully confirmed yet. What seems practically closed is that Safeguards of the operation: The Bonar bonds 2035 and 2038 (AL35 and AE38).
An important tool to save time and strengthen the central bank’s balance sheet
He REPO This is a common mechanism in emerging market central banks, although it is less common in the local market. It works like a mandatory buyback agreementwith a variable interest rate tied to a International Benchmark (SOFR) plus a spread.
In this case, the banking syndicate would be composed of companies that have already participated in previous placements and choose to remain in a banking syndicate low profileto avoid political repercussions or noise in the market.
The timing of the operation is no coincidence. Since net reserves are in negative territory, a country risk of almost 600 basis points -Despite the recent improvement following the S&P valuation and January maturities, the economics team remained focused at the top Luis Caputo seeks financial oxygen To survive the end of the year and the beginning of 2026 without any problems.
In the treasure palace they ensure that the income of 2,000 million US dollars would allow Protect the BCRA’s balance sheet and reduce the likelihood of an abrupt exchange rate correction. Although officially it is insisted that it is a preventative meansThere are estimates circulating on the market that determine the range in between 500 and 700 basis pointswhich would increase it effective costs over 9% per year.
Parallel to that both the president Javier Milei like the minister Luis Caputo They tried to convey security regarding the calendar of events. “We are more than covered, we have the money to easily pay for January, February and the entire first quarterMiley said December 23rdin a radio interview.
Caputo claimed in the same vein: “We feel comfortable, we have the necessary funds to easily pay off all the debts for January, February and March“.
From the official environment they emphasize that operations like this REPO do not respond to an immediate cash emergency, but to the Strategy to strengthen reserves, reduce financial risks and further reduce country riskin a context where access to the voluntary market continues to depend on the costs of external financing.
Luis Caputo’s message: He strives to become “independent” from Wall Street
Following strong reports that a bond would be issued under New York legislation to raise remaining funds for the Jan. 9 maturity of a $4.3 billion bond, The Minister of Economy Luis Caputo announced his preferences.
In response to an X Network user, Caputo explained that since then the government has been inclined not to return to the international market The goal is to “reduce dependence” on Wall Street. and develop the local capital market.
“We have the $1,000 million of it (last week’s placement reached 910 million), almost $7,000 million that the banks have offered us as a repo, we have the two swaps, so we can ultimately get the dollars from that side.”. “Today, the expiration of January 9th for $4.3 billion is not a problem.”, explained the head of the Palacio de Hacienda in an interview on La Casa streaming. He also assured that “a refinancing could take place on the same day.”
This last statement would not be a coincidence, as financier Ignacio Adbuchid Caputo proposed new alternatives two weeks ago at an event to launch the IB Foundation among economists and market analysts. The truth is that some operators in the local market and on Wall Street already had this in mind.
At this event, Caputo made the announcement They intended the placement to achieve an interest rate of less than 9% upon return to the debt market.
Finally, the goal was not achieved, Since the local market offered only $910 million at an interest rate of 9.26% for the placement of a bond with Argentine law for three years, which raised some questions compared to the recent placements of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), which placed in dollars at 7.5% per year, and Santa Fe, which issued a new bond in euros at 8.5% per year.
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