The Central Bank acquired USD 82 million for its reserves

The currency operations of this Friday August 28, 2026 once again demonstrated the unwavering solidity of the economic program of the administration of freedom. In today's session, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) added the remarkable sum of USD 82 million to its coffers in the foreign exchange market. With this excellent transaction, the monetary institution has achieved a record of 22 consecutive days with a net buying balance. During the month of August, the entity has accumulated an increase of USD 722 million. This achievement is particularly significant considering that it occurs during a seasonal period when the liquidation of foreign currency traditionally tends to slow down.

Looking at the medium-term global figures, the management led by Santiago Bausili shows results that astonish international analysts. Since the launch of the fourth phase of the monetary program in January 2026, the monetary authority has managed to incorporate the historic sum of USD 14.049 billion into its gross international reserves.

Thus, the BCRA has already accumulated a total exceeding USD 14 billion so far in 2026. This impressive number surpasses by more than USD 4 billion the floor of the reserve accumulation target originally proposed at the beginning of the year, which was set in a range between USD 10 billion and USD 17 billion.

It is worth noting that this purchase target had already been reached with astonishing anticipation at the beginning of June. The feat is even more remarkable because, during the first quarter, priority had to be given to meeting the financing needs of the Ministry of Economy, a circumstance that temporarily reduced the speed of foreign currency acquisition in the initial stage of the management.

With the course firmly consolidated, the team led by the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, projects to reach the ceiling of the target, equivalent to USD 17 billion, without any issues.

This cushion of monetary resources is key to providing absolute support to the State's financial program, ensuring the payment of the debt maturities scheduled for the years 2026 and 2027, and neutralizing any attempt at currency destabilization ahead of the upcoming legislative elections.

In consolidated terms, the country's gross international reserves ended the week at the high level of USD 49.791 billion. Although there was a daily decrease of USD 1.069 billion, the official explanation dismisses any malicious speculation: it is exclusively a technical movement that is purely accounting-related and recurrent at the end of each month.

In the usual practice of the banking system, commercial banks perform an accounting adjustment and a redistribution of their respective liquidity positions.

In this administrative process, a portion of the foreign currency that was temporarily deposited in the BCRA formally leaves the records of the monetary authority to return to the custody of private entities or settle balance sheet regulations, thus being temporarily excluded from accounting.

Experts rigorously emphasize that "this phenomenon does not represent a real loss of foreign currency for the country nor an outflow of capital, but rather an accounting balance movement".

It is anticipated that these holdings will return to the official accounts in the first days of the coming month, fully reversing the visual effect of the statistics.

It is noteworthy that just last Tuesday, the volume of gross holdings had climbed to USD 50.912 billion, marking the absolute and highest record of the entire Milei era. This magnificent performance was also supported by the appreciation of gold, a strategic asset in the BCRA's portfolio. At the same time, the structural strength of the reserves is backed by the coverage of swap agreements with the United States and China, essential to mitigate any type of volatility like that which was attempted before the legislative elections of 2025.

Finally, regarding the daily functioning of the exchange rates, the foreign exchange market operated in an atmosphere of absolute peace and predictability. The wholesale dollar closed the trading day and the week at the stable rate of $1,512, with no variations compared to the previous day. Throughout the trading session, the volume traded in the spot segment reached the substantial figure of USD 678.6 million.

Thanks to the guidelines of the current economic policy, the official wholesale exchange rate remained at a wide distance of 24.1% (equivalent to a margin of 364.5 pesos) from the upper band of the exchange rate scheme, whose regulatory ceiling was set at the beginning of 2026 at $1,876.50.

In the same vein, the retail dollar for the public remained unchanged and closed at $1,535 for sale on the boards of the Banco Nación, consolidating for the third consecutive day its nominal maximum level in a highly peaceful and predictable manner. Finally, the official average disseminated by the BCRA for the universe of financial entities stood at $1,533.21 for sale and $1,480.11 for purchase. With empirical and compelling figures, the libertarian administration continues to consolidate the reconstruction of the Republic.