The Central Bank's reserves had a significant drop today, due to the payment of an interest due to the International Monetary Fund of more than US$ 600 million. The gross reserves, which reached US$ 39.279 billion last Monday, fell to US$ 38.551 billion. The investment advisor Criteria explained that this first payment of the new agreement with the IMF had already impacted the reserves, which had decreased by US$ 205 million the previous week.
Criteria also pointed out that throughout the year, two more interest payments to the IMF are scheduled, while the national Treasury will receive disbursements of US$ 2 billion in June and US$ 1 billion at the end of the year, according to the new financial schedule. Despite the drop, the net flow of reserves is expected to be positive.
The accumulation of reserves has been affected by the Central Bank's decision not to purchase foreign currency after the lifting of the exchange rate controls. The monetary authority indicated that it will continue not to intervene as long as the dollar price remains within the monthly established exchange bands. However, some specialists suggest intervening before the price reaches its minimum in order to strengthen the reserves.
Regarding net reserves, they returned to being positive thanks to the disbursements from the IMF and the World Bank, reaching approximately US$ 6 billion after having been in negative numbers of around US$ 10 billion. In July, the Treasury will need to face significant payments, so experts recommend holding foreign currency.
The rating agency Moody's decided not to upgrade Argentina's rating, keeping the country risk at 740 points. Meanwhile, the economic team maintains that it is not necessary to buy reserves from a macroeconomic perspective.
