In parallel, the Government moved forward with the signing of contracts for the concession and transfer of shares of the hydroelectric dams of Comahue: Alicurá, El Chocón, Piedra del Águila, and Cerros Colorados. The operation, the final stage of the privatization process, is associated with an inflow of USD 700 million. If those funds are credited before January, the amount pending to meet the maturities would be reduced to about USD 1.7 billion.
A report by Portfolio Personal Inversiones (PPI) highlighted that the Treasury accumulated in December estimated net purchases of USD 408 million in the MLC, equivalent to USD 29 million per day, above November, when they totaled USD 280 million (USD 16 million per day). PPI detailed that, after an erratic start, purchases consolidated in the second week, although in the third week sales "to curb volatility" reappeared, with a net selling balance of USD 168 million.
Meanwhile, LCG warned that net reserves would be negative at USD 405 million. Under the IMF methodology —which doesn't include the revaluation of gold and the yuan or the disbursement of USD 14 billion—, they would reach –USD 15.702 billion. "The agreed target is impossible to meet and the Government will have to resort to a new waiver", they pointed out, with a gap of USD 11.15 billion compared to the revised target.
In this context, the BCRA announced a new reserve accumulation program through direct foreign currency purchases in the MLC within the exchange rate bands. The second phase of the plan, presented by Santiago Bausili, will allow the Central Bank to buy dollars regardless of the exchange rate level and aims to strengthen reserves, in line with requests from the IMF and economists from different schools of thought.
The scheme envisages that the monetary base will go from 4.2% to 4.8% of GDP by December 2026, which would imply purchases of up to USD 10 billion, or USD 17 billion if the demand for pesos grows by one additional point. In the initial stage, the BCRA will be able to purchase up to 5% of the daily traded volume.
