How many reserves did Sergio Massa sell to stop the dollar in 2023?

Buenos Aires – In July 2023, former Minister of Economy Sergio Massa She publicly announced that she stood up to the International Monetary Fund to allow this Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) Continue selling currencies to gain control Dollar Calculated with fluid and MEP, which the body did not find funny, but accepted. newly, in the last Staff report, The IMF stated that during 2023, the central bank sold about US$4 billion to keep the parallel dollar at bay during the election year.

“For the general public, what must remain is calm That's one of the things that Work crew It is the power and intervention capacity of the central bank (BCRA“When there are moments of turmoil,” Massa said after agreeing with the International Monetary Fund to continue intervening.

What is tangible is that this was one of the ways in which the monetary authority continued to lose dollars, to the point that… The previous administration handed the Central Bank net negative reserves of -11.2 billion US dollars and liquid reserves of -15.2 billion US dollars.This is also according to the fund’s numbers.

In total, during the government Alberto Fernandez It was possible to invest approximately US$6,859 million in parallel dollars, as shown by the analysis of securities intervention that can be observed from the exchange balance at the Central Bank. clearly, This mechanism emerged last year in which the presidential elections took place.

What did the International Monetary Fund say about intervening to support the parallel dollar?

The IMF staff report noted that “in response to several episodes of stress in the foreign exchange market, the central bank sold nearly $4 billion in the parallel foreign exchange market in 2023, despite tightening regulations to halt trading in these markets.” Published on February 1.

On the other hand, the Fund considered that the previous administration had fallen behind and a wide range of unprecedented exchange rate restrictions that created serious distortions and incentives for rent-seeking.

Regarding the team Javier MileyThe International Monetary Fund stressed that “the authorities have committed to maintaining the exchange rate policy in line with the objectives of reserve accumulation and the market-based system.” “Avoid the previous approach to managing parallel currency and futures markets.”