The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, advances in the “de-dollarization” of foreign trade with its main trading partners, as one of the alternatives to overcome the fragile situation of reserves in a context of historical drought. Following the activation of the swap with China, Only in April were imports in yuan authorized for the equivalent of US$1,087 million, half of the purchases made in the Asian countryas revealed by sources from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, headed by Matías Tombolini.
In any case, business chambers consulted by Ámbito revealed that a week after the announcement, they observe the acceleration of the approvals of the SIRA, but they hope that there is some fine print from the Central Bank, before doubts about how to finance these importswith the second commercial partner of Argentina.
import in yuan
Depending on the swap negotiated with China, only in the month of April operations in yuan were authorized in the import system (SIRA) for an equivalent of u$s 1,087 million. The figure is not less, since it is equivalent to 50% of import operations from the Asian country were authorized in that currency, according to official sources.
Forward, near Tombolini they anticipated: “The operation is going well, this pace can be maintained, and work will be done to continue advancing in this direction”. According to official sources, there are US$5,000 million with the possibility of using it in Chinese imports, after the authorization of the different tranches of the freely available swap. In Economy they estimate that the average import of merchandise of Chinese origin that will begin to be paid in yuan from May will be around US$800 million.
So far, the entities that operate with this mechanism are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the French Bank and the Bank of China, which works for wholesalers.
On the purpose of this measure, sources from the Ministry of Commerce commented: “The objective is to take care of foreign exchange, provide predictability and guarantee that companies have the essential inputs to continue producing.” In the Economy they expect the lower demand for dollars to have a positive impact on the delicate reserves of the Central Bank.
It is that the delays in the payment of imports led to the commercial debt being the highest since 2003, according to Ecolatina.
Business doubts
Although any measure that oils foreign trade is viewed favorably by business chambers, the truth is that a week after the announcement, doubts persist among companies.
“The swap is good to give fluidity to trade, in fact SIRAs are leaving faster, within 30 days, with 90-day payments in the Customs registry. But they have to complement it with some other regulation, because otherwise the SMEs will be harmed. Reserves in dollars are not going to be used because it will be difficult for SMEs to import directly,” he analyzed. Fernando Garcia Martinezforeign trade expert at Quality Comex SRL.
This occurs because when direct payments are made between Argentina and China, there are doubts about whether there will be a place to make triangulations. “The Chinese supplier, in addition to agreeing to charge you in yuan, will have to agree to finance you and wait to collect about 150 days, I don’t know if he will agree. If this is not the case and you want to collect in advance, it will create a problem, because the swap payment regime is for bilateral and direct import operations. Financing from a third country is lost, through a related trader or subsidiary”, he detailed. “In the case of multinationals, they will be able to leverage their parent companies, but SMEs are more exposed,” he added.
Another question is, for companies that need to go out and look for financing until payments to China are approved, what will happen if they process the SIRA in dollars. “Are they going to approve them? The banks are waiting for some communication from the Central Bank,” said García Martínez.
Source: Ambito
