The Central Bank decided to adapt the foreign trade payment system to respond to the extraordinary needs for foreign exchange to meet energy imports, in order to sustain economic growth, the level of activity of SMEs and avoid speculative maneuvers on the imports.
Measures they extend the financing system for imports to those carried out under a Non-Automatic License and to the importation of services and will be valid for one quarter, to allow time for the normalization of foreign tradespecified the monetary entity this Monday in a statement.
In this framework, small and medium-sized companies will be exempted from the current requirements to finance their imports for an increase of 15% over the previous year, with a limit of up to one million dollars.
From Munich, Germany, where he participates as a guest in a meeting of the Group of 7 (G7), President Alberto Fernández He said that the measures announced by the Central Bank “go in the direction of recovering reserves, an important objective, and also putting public accounts in order, we do not believe that it is possible to continue living with the fiscal deficit, it must be corrected.”
“You have to do it gradually, not wildly. The economy has to improve but the state has to do its part too“, said the head of state at a press conference in which he reviewed national and international issues.
For his part, the head of the Central Bank (BCRA), Miguel Pesce, framed the exchange measures taken by the entity in the “complex moment” that it is going through, in which “energy imports have been growing a lot” due to the increase in international prices.
Pesce said that he is confident that these measures will generate savings of around US$ 1,000 million per month, which would be reflected in an improvement in the reserves of the Central Bank.
In keeping with the words of the Head of State and the head of the Central Bank, the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, stressed that “the objective is to prioritize foreign currency. The measures that are taken are the ones that have to be taken because the economy needs to”.
In a report with Radio Con Vos, the head of the Palacio de Hacienda pointed out that with the measures announced today “the Central Bank is adapting certain aspects of the foreign trade administration policy.”
“The regulation for immediate access to foreign currency is relaxed for SMEs that would have imported up to one million dollars last year. That is relaxed to 115%, which means more foreign currency for SMEs,” the official said, after which he specified that “those who had non-automatic (import) licenses have the same treatment as those who had automatic licenses. The list of luxury goods and the regulations for access to foreign currency of capital goods and foreign currency are updated. “.
Scioli seeks to “consolidate a productive policy”
For his part, the Minister of Productive Development, Daniel Scioli, highlighted the new measures on access to foreign currency for imports arranged by the Central Bank (BCRA) and opted to “consolidate a productive policy and leave the speculative financial policy behind forever.” .
Speaking to Radio 10, Scioli confided in “manage to reverse this situation that is taking place with the issue of reserves, promoting exports”.
“Accumulating reserves is one of the components to gradually reduce inflation,” said the new minister.
One of the topics highlighted by Scioli was a proposal made to Pesce and Guzmán about “the possibility of inserting a differentiation of SMEs in this measure, they have agreed, so that SMEs that import up to US$ 1 million per year are exempted” .
Regarding this measure, the BCRA specified that small and medium-sized companies will be exempted from the current requirements to finance their imports for an increase of 15% over the previous year, with a limit of up to one million dollars.
The monetary entity also detailed that in the new payment scheme, those who operate in the SIMI A (Comprehensive import monitoring system) -which includes automatic import licenses- will maintain access to the foreign exchange market for the equivalent of the monthly average of imports from 2021 plus 5% or from 2020 plus 70%.
Meanwhile, SIMI B corresponding to Non-Automatic Licenses will be able to access the market 180 days after dispatch to the market.
The SIMI, as detailed on the AFIP website, is an instrument that allows prioritizing controls and risk management on merchandise, homogenizing information, facilitating the exchange of information with external organizations.
Also, The Central Bank, in coordination with the Ministry of Productive Development, ordered to expand the tariff positions of goods equivalent to those produced in the country that will have access to the market from 180 days and that of luxury goods that will be able to access from 360 days.
Regarding imports of services, they are equated in treatment to that of goods, allowing access to the market for the same amount as in 2021 and in case of exceeding the amount, the balance at 180 days.
In this way, they promote the recovery of commercial credit that Argentina saw fall significantly as an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Regarding imports of capital goods, a rule was established that allows paying 80% of the value at the port of origin and the remaining 20% with the nationalization of the same.
In a complementary way, the pre-financing of exports will be facilitated, which will accelerate the entry of foreign currency, especially from the cereal complex, passing the obligation to liquidate the foreign currency that is entered from 5 to 15 days, and long-term financing to prepay local debts in local currency. foreign.
