Since 2020 the public debt increased by more than US $ 20,000 million

Ismael Bermudez

07/16/2021 7:14 AM

• Clarín.com

• Economy

Updated 07/16/2021 6:31 PM

Public debt does not stop growing and already has a record of US $ 343,519 million,

75% in dollars or other foreign currencies.

Only in June it

increased, in pesos and in foreign currency

, for the equivalent of US $ 2,346 million.

As has been happening in recent months, and contrary to the proclaimed "debt reduction", the indexation of the debt adjusted for inflation (CER) - the official dollar continues to rise below the increase in prices - and due to higher bond placements in pesos, During June, the national public debt in pesos and in foreign currency went from

US $ 341,173 million to US $ 343,519, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

This account does not include what the provinces or the Central Bank (BCRA) owe.

Meanwhile, during the past month, the BCRA's gross reserves rose by US $ 565 million: they went from US $ 41,872 million to US $ 42,437 million.

With these figures, during 2020 and until June of this year, the public debt

rose from US $ 323,065 million to US $ 343,519 million: it

grew by US $ 20,454 million

.

In addition,

in those 18 months, the BCRA's gross reserves were reduced by US $ 2,411 million.

A part of this debt - of the order of US $ 140,000 million - is "intra-public sector", that is, it is contracted with public organizations, such as the ANSeS and the Central Bank, which facilitates its refinancing in a permanent "wheel".

U $ S 76,000 other million are international financial organizations.

With the exception of the IMF (to which US $ 45,500 million is owed), with the rest of the organizations, such as the World Bank or IDB, Argentina cancels the maturities in exchange for new disbursements.

The rest - almost US $ 130,000 million - is in private hands, in bonds in pesos and in foreign currency.

In June, the impact on the public debt of the effect of the official exchange rate continued with more force, devaluing below the inflation that the Government promotes as an

“inflation control instrument”.

Thus, the debt adjusted by CER increased by US $ 3,979 million.

This process of increasing the dollar value of the indexed debt in pesos has been gaining strength since February with US $ 371 million, continued in March with US $ 688 million, in April it added US $ 1,083 million and in May US $ 1,508 million.

The CER-adjustable debt in pesos amounts to the equivalent of US $ 51,606 million

, more than double that at the end of December 2019.

On the other hand, there were net placements of debt in pesos and adjustments for CER bonds and a decrease for bonds in pesos.

Thus, as of June 30, the debt with the IMF amounted to US $ 45,520 million,

Regarding new debt placements, the Congressional Budget Office (OPC) detailed that

in June “three market tenders were held that resulted in the placement of different instruments for a total cash value (EV) of $ 590,860 million,

of which Treasury bills in national currency -LECER, LEDES and LEPASE- were subscribed in cash for a total of VE $ 402,512 million ”.

Meanwhile, “public market securities for $ 385,659 million (equivalent to US $ 4,036 million) were canceled, including the amortization of LEDES for $ 76,146 million and LEPASE for $ 122,693, both maturing on June 30.

On the other hand,

loan disbursements for US $ 182 million were received

, corresponding to multilateral credit organizations, and amortizations for US $ 155 million were paid.

In addition

, “in June, interests were canceled for the equivalent of US $ 486 million, of which 88% were paid in national currency.

The interest payment of LEPASE SJ301 for $ 19,799 million (US $ 207 million) was highlighted ”.

With the bulk of the debt in foreign currency and CER bonds, an eventual devaluation of the peso would momentarily reduce part of the debt, that contracted in pesos, but the transfer of the devaluation to prices would once again strengthen the debt adjustable by CER.

In the immediate term, between July and December 2021, maturities total US $ 32,959 million, which is reduced to US $ 19,843 million if intra-public sector maturities are excluded, according to the OPC.

More than half of the total maturities correspond to government securities in national currency, for the equivalent of US $ 19,004 million.

Also noteworthy are the maturities with the IMF for US $ 4,524 million, with the highest payments concentrated in September and December.

The Government's bet is to "kick" those maturities.

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