Minister Sergio Massa announced this Thursday in Washington that
the export scheme with the "agro dollar" will be expanded,
which would
temporarily extend
beyond soybeans to other regional products, a way to shore up the scarce reserves to meet the goals of the International Monetary Fund.
And they will also
seek to simplify the various exchange rates
so as not to have so many varieties of dollars, such as the card, savings, Qatar or Coldplay.
In addition, the minister is leaving the US capital with the
promise of adding 3,000 million dollars
from international organizations for the coffers of the Central, they said in Economy.
This Friday the executive board of the Monetary Fund meets and it is estimated that
the relaxation of reserve goals
proposed by the Government will be approved because it does not meet them due to the severe drought and the delay in the implementation of the new electricity tariff, among other difficulties.
But
even more efforts are needed
to add resources to the Central and
the board needs a path to know where they will come from.
Within this framework, this “agro dollar” will be launched
, which includes soybeans and other
additional
products .
The objective – they say in Economy – is to try to add US$ 15,000 million in exports in the second and third quarters.
The measure
will be launched on Monday
and will be refined this weekend with meetings with business chambers from different sectors such as rice, peanuts, wine, tannins and yerba mate, among others, which could be added.
It will be for the regional agro-export sector
and, according to what they say in the minister's environment, the initiative will have little or no impact on the domestic market and inflation because it will seek to continue maintaining local supply and prices.
The idea is that it be
a temporary plan, 30 days for soybeans and 90 days for regional economies.
"It is a program to increase exports, which is intended in some way
to facilitate the capacity and compliance with the contracts
of our exporters in the year of drought, understanding the difficulties that our producers suffered," Massa told Argentine correspondents in Washington.
“The challenge is to promote this measure
to strengthen the reserves in the second quarter
and continue the stabilization path that Argentina has to follow.
The drought hit us very hard
,” he noted.
“The Fund assumes it, it is assumed by all those who understand the weight that the agro-export sector has in the Argentine economy and we believe that just as we took measures to protect and help producers who were victims of the drought with tax benefits, we also
took
measures
to promote exports and consolidate the agricultural sector in the possibility of fulfilling its contracts and the Argentine Central Bank in the possibility of strengthening itself in terms of reserves”, he added.
Goodbye to the 12 exchange rates?
Also in Economy they work to
simplify in the future the different dollars
product of the different taxes that are levied on the import side, which is
a claim of the IMF
.
The idea of multiple exchange rates is something that goes against the agency's dogma, but until now it
has been tolerating it
with "waivers" or pardons because -like the soybean dollar- it is
a "creative" resource
that has served to prop up reserves in red.
The idea is
to simplify the taxes
that affect tourism or concerts and certain imports to move towards
a simpler system.
“The second great challenge has to do with beginning to follow a path of exchange simplification so that everything that appears as the Coldplay dollar or the Techno dollar begins to work and operate in a more unified
scheme
,” said Massa.
On the other hand, and always with the level of reserves on his mind, the minister leaves Washington with the certainty that
some US$3 billion will soon enter his coffers
from international credit organizations.
The Argentine delegation was very enthusiastic about the United States' support for Argentina before international organizations, which they said was expressed by President
Joe Biden
during the meeting he held with Alberto Fernández and their respective teams at the White House.
Although the main one for Argentina today is the IMF, there are
other organizations that can help
the country.
Massa has been touring the halls of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) these days and in contact with World Bank officials.
With them, added to the CAF, it takes the promise of US$ 3,000 million in various types of
loans in addition
to those that are in the portfolio:
liquid funds for reserves
, and also for infrastructure (these still enter the Central in dollars for what counts towards the reserve goal).
The hand of these organizations – which have not made announcements in this regard – opens with the approval of the United States, they point out in Economy.
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