08/23/2021 16:30
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 08/23/2021 4:56 PM
The Government confirmed on Monday the
arrival of US $ 4,334 million for the new allocation of Special Drawing Rights
(SDR), a measure defined by the IMF authorities to strengthen reserves worldwide and help member countries to cope with the impact of the pandemic.
"Argentina received today 3,055 million SDRs, the equivalent of
US $ 4,334 million
, in respect of a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights that the International Monetary Fund began to distribute among member countries, according to their participation quota in the organization. "confirmed the Ministry of Economy through a statement.
Last March, the Fund decided to make a general allocation of SDR for
US $ 650,000 million
to reinforce the global liquidity affected by the pandemic, complementing the reserve assets of the 190 member countries of the organization.
This is
the highest historical figure that the IMF distributes in SDR
, after doing so for the last time in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.
Argentina has a 0.67% stake in the organization, which corresponds to the equivalent of US $ 4,334 million.
And
its fate is not entirely clear, although the Government gave signs in favor of using these resources to pay the debt
with the Fund.
In the midst of the fiscal adjustment, a sector of the ruling party claimed to use them for pandemic expenses.
But in July Cristina Kirchner suggested allocating them to the payment of maturities.
Now, in the economic team they say that
"it will be seen" what they do with those extra funds
.
For now,
on September 22 and December 22 there are commitments for US $ 1.8 billion
in each case with the IMF.
Then, in March another US $ 4,000 million will expire with the agency.
Before that date, the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, said that there will be an agreement.
On the eve of the twists, IMF director Kristalina Georgieva warned yesterday that "
countries must use SDRs responsibly and wisely for the benefit of all people
."
Reserves increase
With this injection, the Central Bank's reserves will
increase by 10%
and will give the Government a temporary respite.
"The SDRs are not repaid, they do not constitute a loan. Not only do they not generate debt, but they increase the resources and tools of the State," said the Ministry of Economy.
For analysts,
the scenario will also remain fragile
from here until the end of the year.
Not only due to exchange rate pressures, which have an impact on the Central Bank's stock of foreign currency, but also due to the strong maturities that by the end of the year will leave net reserves at delicate levels.
"US $ 4,334 million of the IMF's SDRs entered, 75% of the BCRA's freely available reserves. From now until the end of the year,
US $ 4,100 million
with the IMF
expire
.
As they enter, they leave
. It would be ideal if we already had a program with the IMF that would save us dollars, "said Juan Paolicchi, an economist at Empiria.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
Special Drawing Rights are international reserve assets created by the IMF in 1969. They are not a currency, but they function as such.
They can be conserved as international reserves or used to change their composition,
converting them to freely
usable
currencies.
Its value is calculated by weighting a basket of currencies (US dollar, euro, Chinese renminbi, yen and British pound) and is used as a unit of account by the IMF and other international organizations.
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