Overview
- Banco Central bought US$125 million on Friday and has accumulated US$687 million since January 5, marking ten straight buying sessions, even as gross reserves hovered near US$44.61 billion after other outflows.
- The Banco Nación rate closed at ARS 1,455 and the wholesale at about ARS 1,430, extending a multi‑day slide and sitting roughly 8% below the current band ceiling of ARS 1,546.18.
- Parallel and financial exchange rates eased, with the blue near ARS 1,500, MEP around ARS 1,471 and CCL about ARS 1,518, while FX futures priced lower across near‑term contracts.
- To neutralize pesos from its FX purchases, the central bank sold dollar‑linked bonds, which drained liquidity, sent very short‑term rates to extreme levels, and forced the Treasury to roll over 98% of maturities at higher yields.
- The government reported a 2025 primary surplus of 1.4% of GDP and a financial surplus of 0.2%, the IMF praised the reserve buildup, and local assets saw modest gains with country risk near 564–565 basis points.