Ismael Bermúdez
07/02/2020 - 10:11
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
In deposits abroad, in local banks and in banknotes in the "mattresses" and safes, Argentines accumulate the record of 222,807 million dollars, declared or not before the AFIP, according to the INDEC data from the first quarter of this year.
They are 72,254 million more than those at the end of 2015. And 150,043 million more than in 2006. During the first quarter of this year, this accumulation did not stop as it grew by US $ 1,850 million: it went from US $ 220,957 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 to US $ 222,807 million. The bulk of that amount is banknotes in safes or on the mattress, declared or not.
That total does not include the bonds and shares in foreign currency nor the properties that Argentines have abroad. If these assets of Argentine and Argentine companies are considered, it totals 322,636 million dollars, a total almost similar to the national public debt that as of March 31 was US $ 323,381 million.
Those deposits and banknotes under the mattress were fueled by dollarization and "capital flight", which, in turn, were financed with surplus foreign trade and more debt. For this reason, there is a very close correlation between dollarization, flight, value of the dollar, assets abroad and growth of public debt.
Currency and Argentine deposits in foreign currency
Tap to explore the data
Source: INDEC Infographic: Clarín
Throughout the last years, this process has been almost constant, with very high moments. For example, between 2007 and 2011 dollarization (“formation of external assets”) totaled US $ 79,007 million, fueled by the international crisis of 2008/09 that had a negative impact in Argentina, and by the crisis with the countryside.
Just to stop draining money than the previous two years had been record (more than US $ 30,000 million), the government of Cristina Kirchner imposed in October 2011 -after get re-election- the "FX market ." The flight slowed but remained active because dollars out of the system continued to increase through the official sale of "savings-dollars", which were later turned to the parallel circuit of the "blue-dollar" and other mechanisms ("counted with liqui" ) towards the mattress or abroad, including tax havens.
This drainage of national savings was financed with the dollars that came in from the surpluses of foreign trade and with more debt, especially with the Central Bank and public agencies, while declaring "debt". Public debt (internal and external) took a sharp leap: at the end of 2001, public indebtedness was US $ 141.3 billion. After the exchange in 2005, it fell to US $ 125.4 billion and at the end of 2015 it was at US $ 240.665 million, almost double.
During the Mauricio Macri government (2016/2019), dollarization and capital flight reached a whopping US $ 86,199 million, which was financed with more debt, including that contracted with the IMF.
In those four years, the public debt increased by US $ 82,400 million: it went from US $ 240,665 million to US $ 323,065 million, placing Argentina virtually in default, not without first imposing an exchange rate. After the presidential elections in October, the stocks were reinforced, enabling the purchase of only $ 200 per month per person. That month they bought 2,556,000 people. At the beginning of the year it decreased but in April there were 1,200,000 and last May 2,400,000 individuals repeated the purchase.
Meanwhile, the value of the official dollar and alternative dollars continued to rise. In December 2010, the official dollar was trading at $ 4. At the end of 2015 at $ 13.40 and in 2019 it closed at $ 62.99. On Wednesday it closed at $ 74, plus the 30% surcharge, while the blue dollar hovered around $ 128.
NE