In a delicate balance for try to protect your reserves, The Central Bank announced last Thursday two important changes: on the one hand, it made access to the financial dollar more flexible; while on the other, it strengthened the conditions for importers to access the official market. The measure caused suspicion in the sector, which he warns, which forces to a certain extent a de facto “exchange splitting”.
From the communication 7466, The board of directors of the organization chaired by Miguel Pesce announced that it will join the Import Monitoring System (SIMI), in which the Ministry of Production and AFIP have participated until now. Specifically, the admission of the monetary authority to this control mechanism will mean a double classification of imports.
In this way, the BCRA will divide imports into two categories. Those that remain within category A will be able to maintain their access to the foreign exchange market to be able to get the necessary dollars to import; while companies that are classified in category B must request minimum financing for a term of 180 days run to count from customs entry.
The regulations clarify that those importers of capital goods and purchases abroad associated with non-automatic licenses. Additionally, the Central set a limited amount so that companies can be considered within the first category.
The BCRA will enable an importer to access the foreign exchange market for SIMI category A for the equivalent of the lower value between imports for the year 2021 plus 5% of said value or imports for the year 2020 plus 70% of said value. If that amount is less than US$50,000 or the importer has not made purchases in the last two years, andThe limit will be US$50,000 per year.
In addition to these limits, importers complained about a new extra layer of bureaucracy that they will have to deal with to meet the necessary requirements to access the official dollar.
“This aims to reduce the flow of imports since, according to the monetary authority, sustained increases in imports of goods associated with “speculative” behavior were observed in recent months,” Delphos analysts said, adding: “This seems to be a reflection of the negative balances of the BCRA in the Official Market since November (US$1,508 million), that were maintained despite the very good wheat harvest”.
This measure was accompanied by a relaxation of the financial market by the CNV. On the one hand, the cap of approximately US$18,000 per week was eliminated to operate the MEP dollar through bonds in dollars under national law. At the same time, operating national law bonds will not imply restrictions to operate other assets.
In this delicate balance, “the government seems to aim to give more fluidity to the financial dollarss at a time when they are in a downward trend while reinforcing surveillance of imports, “they added in Delphos. Since the beginning of the year, both the price of the MEP dollar and the cash with liquid
“It’s almost a way to finish unfolding without saying so, since it becomes increasingly difficult to access the MULC and therefore the exporter must settle at the official exchange rate, and anyone who needs to make a payment abroad must end up accessing the cash with liquid “, pointed out an expert source in foreign exchange regulations.