Due to the adjustment of the debt in pesos tied to inflation and the dollar and the net increase in liabilities with the IMF, in January the stock of gross public debt rose to
a total amount equivalent to US$381,272 million.
“With respect to the previous month, the debt in a normal payment situation
increased by the equivalent of US$ 10,622 million,
which represents
a monthly growth of 2.88%
.
The variation is due to the increase in debt in foreign currency by US$ 3,514 million and the increase in debt in local currency for an equivalent amount in dollars of US$ 7,108 million,” according to the Report of the Secretary of Finance.
The increase in debt in foreign currency is explained because the International Monetary Fund disbursed US$ 4,707 million as part of the renewal of the agreement with Argentina, of which US$ 1,967 million were used to pay the January capital maturities.
The debt with the IMF rose from US$ 40,899 million to US$ 43,157 million.
After the
strong liquefaction of the debt in pesos
due to the December devaluation (for the equivalent of US$ 47,307 million, in November the gross debt amounted to the equivalent of US$ 425,294 million), in January it jumped again due to the
variation of bonds and securities adjustable by CER
(Inflation) or
dollar linked
.
And to the extent that inflation increases above the variation in the official exchange rate, the debt in pesos valued in dollars
must continue to grow,
absorbing the liquefaction of December.
More than 90% of the debt in pesos is contracted in CER bonds
(which are adjusted for inflation) or
dollar linked
(they are adjusted for the official exchange rate), according to the Congressional Budget Office (OPC).
This level of debt does not include the debt of the Provinces and the Central Bank.
The Report highlights that “29% of the debt in a normal payment situation is payable in local currency while the remaining 71% is payable in foreign currency.”
And that “77% of the gross debt in a normal payment situation corresponds to National Treasury Securities and Bills, 21% to obligations with Official External Creditors, 1% corresponds to Transitory Advances and the remaining 1% to other instruments” .
The Report also points out that
“during the last 12 months, the stock of gross debt in a normal payment situation decreased by the equivalent of US$ 14,516 million
, due to the increase in debt in foreign currency by US$ 7,178 million and the decrease in the debt in local currency for an amount equivalent to US$ 21,694 million.”
The Ministry of Finance clarifies that "due to recommendations from 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 figures are expressed in their equivalent in dollars applying the exchange rate of the last business day of the period to convert into said currency the remaining debts issued and payable in: pesos, special drawing rights (SDR), euro, yen, etc.".
NE