The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) could end 2026 with reserve purchases close to USD 20 billion, according to the projection presented by the Minister of Economy, Luis "Toto" Caputo.
The official estimate contemplates that the monetary authority will finish the year with acquisitions of USD 19.438 billion, after having accumulated USD 14.350 billion by September. This figure was reported during a conference held this Tuesday.
This data is significant because the projected amount is above the possible scenarios anticipated at the beginning of 2026.
Luis Caputo and Santiago Bausili
Caputo specifically highlighted the difference between those forecasts and the accumulated result so far. “We had an implicit target of USD 10 billion with the IMF and we had a super optimistic scenario that was that, if things went very, very well, we might reach USD 17 billion in purchases for the year,” he stated.
According to the minister's presentation, the level reached by the BCRA would now allow for an even greater projection. “The current situation, we are already at USD 14.350 billion. If we project that trend, everything indicates that we will be closer to the USD 20 billion that the president is talking about,” he noted.
The graph presented by the Ministry of Economy contemplates that the accumulated USD 14.350 billion recorded until September will increase by approximately USD 5 billion during the last three months of the year, reaching USD 19.438 billion.
Javier Milei and Luis Caputo
In this context, Caputo emphasized the greater availability of foreign currency. “Now there are dollars for people, for companies, for those who want to remit dividends, but also to replenish the reserves of the Central Bank,” he stated.
The accumulation of reserves has thus become one of the highlighted data points by the economic team when evaluating the exchange position for the upcoming year. The Milei Government itself had already indicated that the early fulfillment of the reserve target with the IMF was a central element of the economic program.
If the projection presented by Caputo materializes, the BCRA would end 2026 with foreign currency purchases of USD 19.438 billion, almost double the originally agreed target with the IMF and even above the optimistic scenario of USD 17 billion that the Government had contemplated for the entire year.
