Overview
- Official ESF records show Argentina’s SDR balance rose by 640.8 million on October 15, with a matching U.S. decline, confirming a $872 million sale/transfer.
- Argentine authorities used those resources to make the roughly $796 million IMF payment on November 7.
- U.S. operations in October included buying about $1.9–2.0 billion in pesos; the positions were later closed and logged under a bilateral swap, creating around $2.5 billion in new dollar liabilities at the BCRA and reducing net reserves by roughly $3.5 billion.
- U.S. media reported a proposed $20 billion private-bank package was scaled back or paused near $5 billion via a potential repo; Economy Minister Luis Caputo first denied any rescue, then said talks existed but were not implemented and that the government declined extra help after markets improved.
- Argentine assets fell and the country risk rose to roughly 650–660 basis points following the reports, with investors focused on early-January external payments estimated at about $4–4.5 billion.