Two months after the judicial ruling,
the Government started the payment of almost $100,000 million for the return of co-participation funds
that the Supreme Court restored to the City.
Through a resolution, the Ministry of Economy operationalized the transfer of Treasury bonds to a Banco Nación account and the calculation of their value since the issuance of the titles last December, whose price is unknown.
These are the TX31 bonds, which mature in 9 years (on December 30, 2031) and are adjusted for inflation (CER index) with a rate of 2.5% above the evolution of prices.
Despite providing this coverage in a scenario with inflation close to 100% year-on-year, investors flee from this type of paper
because it is very long-term.
"There is no price for that, they are not traded on the stock market, nobody sells them," said an operator.
The joint measure of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, headed by Eduardo Setti and Raúl Rigo, establishes "the extension of the issuance of the "National Treasury Bonds in Pesos adjusted by CER 2.50% Maturity 11/30/2031", issued originally through article 7 of joint resolution 40 of October 17, 2022 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Finance, both of the Ministry of Economy".
According to the resolution of this Monday, the operation is "for an amount of up to the original nominal value of pesos sixty-five thousand three hundred and eighty-two million six hundred and seventy-nine thousand one hundred and seventy-nine (VNO $ 65,382,679,179), equivalent to pesos ninety and eight thousand five hundred million ($98,500,000,000), calculated at the technical value on the date of entry into force of administrative decision 1282/2022 amounting to pesos one thousand five hundred and six point five thousand one hundred and two cents ($1,506.5152 ), for each original nominal value one thousand pesos (VNO $ 1,000)".
In this way, the Government advanced along a path that was rejected by the head of the Buenos Aires government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, when in December he assured that the payment "must be done directly and daily with what is called daily drip distributed by the co-participation and must do so in pesos".
And, at the beginning of February, the opposition statement was added pointing against the "bomb" of the public debt in pesos.
The bonds in question were accepted by the Court when the State ordered last year the payment to the province of Santa Fe of the debt that was generated after the ruling that declared unconstitutional the deduction of 15% of the mass of co-participating taxes that it had been carrying out. the national State to finance ANSES.
That was the official argument to use them again with CABA.
The payment had been announced on Monday, December 26 by President Alberto Fernández
, after the highest court ordered the return of funds that it had taken from the City to give it to Axel Kicillof in the Province.
At first, the president rejected the judicial decision and announced that he was going to "recuse the members of the Court", but the next day he backed down and ordered payment with bonds.
What was missing is the procedure approved this Monday to calculate the value of the bonds and make their return.
There, it is provided that Economy will request the Central Bank to transfer the TX31 to an account in the name of the Treasury at Banco Nación (BNA), from where daily payments will be made to the City, and will notify the entity of the nominal value of the titles based on the information published by the BCRA since December 26.
This is the increase in the CER index from the date of issuance to the present plus accrued interest.
According to the resolution,
Banco Nación will calculate daily the difference between the application of the 2.95% index
of the mass of funds ordered by the Court (until the substantive issue is resolved) and the 1.4% that "historically" it was transferred to the City and to determine the nominal value of the titles equivalent to the amount in pesos of the previous calculation, the technical value reported by Finance on the business day prior to the calculation date will apply.
In the event that the City does not provide for the opening of the account, Banco Nación will proceed to open a transitory account for judicial deposits.
And the days that are pending transfer at the time the joint resolution enters into force will be regularized by applying the previously mentioned calculation criteria for each day.
NS