Overview
- Gross reserves rose $596 million on Friday to $43.61 billion, capping a Christmas-shortened week gain of $1.197 billion on inflows from international bodies, gold revaluation and currency moves.
- The Central Bank introduced a new mechanism to purchase foreign currency within the trading bands, initially allowing buys of up to 5% of each day’s market volume.
- Economy Minister Luis Caputo said the Treasury bought nearly $900 million off-market to help cover a roughly $4.2 billion payment due on January 9.
- About $700 million is expected from newly signed concession and share-transfer contracts for Comahue hydroelectric dams, which officials say would ease January funding needs.
- Local estimates put net reserves at about negative $15.8 billion under the IMF metric, far below the December target and likely requiring a waiver.