The first advance operations for soybean exports and other products began this Wednesday under the new system authorized by the Central Bank, with which the Government and the main agro-export companies agreed to bring close to US$ 1,000 million to increase international reserves.
“We inform that the first operations of special and correspondent accounts in dollars for pre-financing and advances based on the latest Central Bank circulars have had a positive balance”, said this Wednesday afternoon Cereals Export Center (CEC), which brings together the main grain exporting companies in Argentina, in a Twitter message.
? Although there are still certain inconveniences in banks to open special accounts in dollars, this scheme will continue to be used by #exporters in the future.
— Cereal Exporters Center (CEC) (@exportcereales) August 17, 2022
And he added: “Although there are still certain inconveniences in banks to open special accounts in dollars, this scheme will continue to be used by exporters in the future.”
On August 5, the Central Bank published a new regulation -Communications “A” 7574 and 7570- with which it enabled grain exporters who export more than US$100 million to bring those dollars into the country and not liquidate them for pesos within the current term (five days) but to leave them for up to 180 days in dollars in banks.
The measure is accompanied by a special authorization for banks to sign a special bill in dollars for banks (NODO) to deliver those dollars to the Central Bank, so that they serve to strengthen reserves in the short term.
The securities will pay a yield at maturity above the cost of the rate used to take credits abroad (today, around 2.3% in dollars). That margin will be fixed in the bidding this Wednesday, as confirmed by official sources.
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, had advanced this measure when assuming his mandate at the beginning of August, with the objective of the Government that the cereal companies anticipate exports for at least some US$ 1,000 million in the coming days.
“It is estimated a priori that the flow of the next few weeks could involve an amount close to a billion dollars, until the rate of sale of the producers is evaluated,” The president of the Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic and the Cereal Export Center (CIARA-CEC), Gustavo Idigoras, pointed out a week ago.
In this regard, he said that “historically credits were taken with foreign banks or advances to export and the accounts were entered so that after five days the BCRA would transform that foreign currency position into pesos at the official exchange rate.”
“The current modifications allow exporters to keep their foreign currency for up to 180 days. If they do so in special accounts in dollars in the country, the banking system would offer a rate to cover the cost of that pre-financing abroad,” detailed.
