The “Services” account From the Central Bank exchange balance (BCRA) registered a deficit of US $ S939 million in May, exceeding May 2024 (US $ S551 million). With May data The accumulated deficit of what is going from 2025 is already 5% higher than recorded throughout last year (US $ 4,875 million). If the service deficit was maintained at the current levels for the remainder of the year, then, it could mark another historical record exceeding the maximum of the historical series recorded in 2017 with US $ 10,819 million, or to the second largest that was 2022 with US $ 10,106 million.
It is true that a priori cannot talk about good or bad deficits, But whether sustainable or notand given the BCRA reservations stock to have a currency drainage through the service channel around US $ 900 million to 1 billion per month generates certain suspicions. Who were the culprits last May? As a spoiler, it can be said that it was tourism abroad, international expenses by card and interest payment.
BCRA data is clear that the deficit was explained by net expenses for Trips, tickets and other card payments for US $ 889 millionof the so -called other services for US $ 207 million and freight and insurance US $174 million. Such a negative flow was barely compensated thanks to the performance of net income for professional and technical business services that have been playing in favor and that this time added US $ 331 million.
Regarding the result of travel, tickets and other card payments, the BCRA warns “That it should not be associated only with travel expenses since, in the turns that are made abroad to cancel balances with international card issuing companies, both consumptions that are made by trips abroad and non -face -to -face purchases of goods and services to suppliers abroad are included”.
It also clarifies that, in a reciprocal way, in the Income also includes non -face -to -face purchases that make the use of cards, suppliers from our country, who qualify as “non -residents”. In this regard, he advances that, with the aim of improving these statistics, communication “A” 8254 will allow from July, to properly differentiate between travel consumption from and abroad and non -face -to -face purchases of goods and services to suppliers abroad/from abroad to local suppliers.
On the other hand, the BCRA emphasizes that, more than 70% of travel, tickets and other card payments, are directly canceled by customers with foreign currency funds, which reduces the deficit impact of these consumptions on the change market. These funds are received by the entities and then sold, so they constitute anchor for the change market. Otherwise the impact on the stock of the BCRA reserves would be even greater.
Another element to take into account when analyzing what happened last May, were the operations for primary income that represented a net exit of US $ 1,029 millionwhich is due to net payments of interest for US $ 1,011 million and net expenditures of profits, dividends and other income abroad for US $ 18 million. For their part, the Government and the BCRA made net interest cancellations for US $ 874 million, explained by gross cancellations of interest to the IMF for US $ 612 million, for turns to international organizations (excluded the IMF) for US $205 million and for other concepts for US $ 70 million. The BCRA report shows that the private sector made net interest cancellations for US $ 137 million, and that secondary admission operations represented a US $ 7 million surplus.
The accumulated balance of the first five months of 2025 shows a deficit of US $ 4,915 million (Without contemplating the deficit of primary or secondary income), which is explained, mainly, for trips, tickets and other card payments for almost US $ 4,100 million, US $ 444 million for charges for the use of intellectual property, other US $ 403 million passenger transport services, US $ s582 million freight, US $ S222 of operational lease services, US $ 156 million of other transport services, US $ 171 million insurance services, US $ 145 million government services, YU $ S63 million financial services. In favor they played professional and technical business services with a surplus of US $ 1,346 million YU $ S40 million services related to trade.
Source: Ambito
