PARIS.- In the Government there is concern about the lack of dollars in the industry to buy imported inputswhich they estimate will worsen when liquidations in the agricultural sector are reduced.
During the tour of Europe, the president Alberto Fernandez He acknowledged in conversations with his collaborators that this is one of the central obstacles for the coming months, as well as achieving a reduction in inflation that changes the trend of price marking. This Thursday, the inflation index stood at 6% and dashed hopes of a broader reduction.
“We are working on that,” replied an official when asked by THE NATION on the problems of production to stock up on dollars. The Government is analyzing measures to prevent shortages from hampering the recovery of the sectors of the economy that have seen their activity improve in recent years.
During his tour of Europe, concern about the lack of dollars reached President Alberto Fernández.
The concern coincides with a worrying turn in the market. The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA), which was buying dollars during the first days of May and had accumulated reserves for nine days, had to sell.
On Wednesday, in a change of trend, the Central Bank got rid of about 20 million dollars to supply foreign exchange to importers.
The trend deepened. Today’s numbers were even higher: the The Central Bank (BCRA) bought 80 million dollars on the market this Thursday, the largest daily sale since February. The alarms are sounding louder, as they recognized in the delegation that accompanies the President through Europe.
The balance for the month, however, is still positive: the accumulated monthly purchases stood at 535 million dollars.
In the government they take it for granted that measures should be taken to deal with the obstacle. One possibility is to further limit the purchase of dollars by importers.
In any case, the next steps must be adapted to the goals agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But the President rejects the idea of asking for a “pardon” that would allow the objectives to be modified. “I also want to meet the goals of the agreement,” Alberto Fernández emphasized regarding the guidelines agreed with the IMF.
For the goverment, the adequacy of the agreement with the Monetary Fund It must take place within the framework of the general review that the Fund anticipated due to the effects of the war in Ukraine, which generated global complications.
In other words, the President wants the review of the goals with Argentina to be part of a global review, which includes all the members of the organization, due to the changes in the world economy caused by the Russian invasion.
Yesterday, he ratified it in a conference at the Argentine embassy: “the IMF has already said that these agreements must be reviewed because the economy has been significantly altered. So if it is a decision that the Fund has, it will surely apply to us.”
The President’s European tour concludes this Friday. Fernandez received today an honorary medal awarded by the Sorbonne University of Paris, at the start of his official visit to France. Y It will conclude this Friday with a meeting with the re-elected French president, Emmanuel Macron, with whom he will once again address the situation of the war in Ukraine.