Due to the disbursement of the IMF and other international organizations, the national public debt increased in March by the equivalent of
US$ 3,638 million:
it rose from US$ 394,150 million in February reaching a record of
US$ 397,788 million in March,
according to data of the Finance Secretary.
Meanwhile, the gross reserves of the Central Bank in March
increased by just US$351 million
: from US$38,079 million to US$39,060 million, from which arises a growth in net indebtedness.
The Report indicates that of the US$ 397,788 million of gross debt, US$ 395,287 million is in a
situation of normal payment.
And 33% of the debt in a situation of normal payment is contracted in local currency while the
remaining 67% in foreign currency.
This public debt does not include that of the Central Bank or that of the Provinces and Municipalities.
“Compared to the previous month, the debt in a situation of normal payment increased by the equivalent of US$ 3,616 million, representing a monthly growth of 0.92%.
The variation is explained by the increase in debt in foreign currency in US$ 3,475 million and the increase in debt in local currency for an equivalent amount in dollars of US$ 141 million”, according to Finance.
The debt with the IMF increased from US$42,839 million to
US$46,041 million
: US$3,202 million.
The disbursement in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) was US$ 5,315 million, but
almost half was used to pay maturities to the IMF itself.
Due to loans received, the debt with CAF (Andean Development Corporation) also increased by US$ 312 million.
And with the IDB and the World Bank for smaller amounts.
“75% of the gross debt in a situation of normal payment corresponds to Titles and Letters of the National Treasury, 20% to obligations with Official External Creditors1, 4% corresponds to Transitory Advances2 and the remaining 1% to other instruments”, says the report.
Meanwhile, in relation to December 2022, the indebtedness grew by the equivalent of US$1,233 million, from US$396,555 million to US$397,788 million.
In 2020 the debt increased by US$ 12,517 million.
In 2021 it rose by US$ 27,651 million.
In 2022 it increased by US$ 33,306 million.
Consequently,
between December 2019 and March, public debt grew by the equivalent of US$ 74,707 million.
The Report indicates that "during the last 12 months, the stock of gross debt in a situation of normal payment increased by the equivalent of US$ 21,506 million, due to the increase in foreign currency debt of US$ 5,761 million and the increase in the debt in local currency for an amount equivalent to US$ 15,745 million.”
The bulk of the increase in debt in pesos corresponds to that which is adjusted for inflation.
The Ministry of Finance clarifies that “by recommendations of statistical manuals and based on international definitions,
the dollar is used as the unit of account to provide comparability and standardize the statistics.
In this way, all the figures are expressed in their equivalent in dollars, applying the exchange rate of the last business day of the period to convert to said currency the remaining debts issued and payable in: pesos, special drawing rights (SDR), euro, yen, etc.”