In January, individuals and companies purchased dollars worth US$ 3.709 billion, while inflows from individuals and companies reached US$ 980 million. Thus, a deficit of US$ 2.730 billion was recorded, according to data from the Central Bank accessed by the Argentine News Agency. Of these totals, 1.6 million individuals purchased cash dollars worth US$ 2.613 billion, and 730,000 sold US$ 410 million. Compared to December 2025, this marks an acceleration, as 1.5 million made gross cash purchases totaling US$ 2.186 billion, while 670,000 sold US$ 477 million. The outflow of foreign currency accelerated after the partial lifting of the exchange rate clamp in April of last year. And it was financed by the trade surplus and public (IMF and international organizations and banks) and private debt. In turn, the net outflow for travel, card payments, and tourism amounted to US$ 1.325 billion in January (the same as January 2025), and another US$ 2.256 billion in interest payments (public and private sectors). On the other hand, despite the trade surplus (exports minus imports) of US$ 2.014 billion (exports of US$ 6.814 billion and payments for imports of US$ 4.800 billion), the current account of the balance of payments recorded a deficit of US$ 919 million. This deficit of US$ 919 million in January was due to net interest payments of US$ 1.997 billion and net outflows of profits, dividends, and other income abroad of US$ 10 million, made through transfers of local deposits abroad.
