Before investors, the vice president of the Central Bank assured that they will add US$ 8,000 million in net reserves this year

In the first quarter alone, net international reserves rose US$1.5 billion. The agreement with the IMF projects another US$3.5 billion for the second quarter and a total of US$8 billion for all of 2026. The Central Bank is confident of reaching that net reserve goal this year, in a context where the supply of dollars remains high and the demand of the economy depressed.

The vice president of the Central Bank, Vladimir Werning, presented “Argentina: Economic Program Phase 4. A more encouraging outlook for both the external and internal balance, despite global uncertainty” during a series of meetings with investors in Washington DC, from April 13 to 18.

The official’s thesis is that in the midst of global shocksthe stability of the Argentine financial market stands out compared to other emerging peers. To support this argument, Werning asserted that there are “cyclical” factors that help improve the resilience of the economy against possible external shocks.

One of these is that The demand for dollars, which soared to historic levels last year in the run-up to the elections, fell drastically after the elections. Since these purchases are maintained within the local financial system, which is seen in an increase in dollar deposits, this does not affect reserves.

At the same time, Werning stressed that After the electoral volatility, corporate investors left their “wait and see” posture and they have begun to dismantle their exchange hedging positions to seek financing in dollars that underpins their activities.

Within the “policy factors“that explain this good financial performance, the second of Santiago Bausili highlighted that the Central Bank has been meeting the expectations that were set for this year in terms of foreign currency purchases and managed to buy more than 60% of the objective that had been set in these first four months. In this way, the vice president of the Central Bank assured that They will add US$ 8,000 million of net reserves this year

All this was done in a context of “less stocks”: Werning stressed that the BCRA recently lifted restrictions on the transfer of dividends from companies and that the CNV relaxed the limits for investments in the capital market.

Werning gave more detail about the Government’s financial strategy, which aims to ensure that the flow of foreign direct investment and the repatriation of resident capital/domestic savings have priority over Argentina’s financing in the debt market, to maintain fiscal balance. In this sense, he highlighted that both the capital that arrives through the large investment scheme, RIGI, and the initiatives for the repatriation of internal dollars, such as the Tax Innocence Law, will have a positive impact on the level of deposits and credits in dollars. The stock of dollars in banks reached US$38 billion in April and the record has been maintained since the exit of convertibility.

“The Treasury has already implemented an unprecedented 11% of GDP effort to restore solvency and credibility (5% fiscal adjustment + 2.5% tax cuts + 3.4% net debt payments),” highlighted Werning, who in turn highlighted the fall in sovereign debt spreads since the launch of the stabilization program.