After various efforts by the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, for encourage payment of imports with Chinese currency, the use of yuan in foreign trade skyrocketed. According to an official report that Ámbito was able to access, between January and May there were operations for the equivalent of US$2,321 million. Besides, two electronics manufacturing companies confirmed that they will pay debt commitments for a total of US$630 million in that currencyTherefore, the relief for the Central Bank’s coffers will exceed US$3,000 million in the first semester. In other areas they are already looking at the maneuver with interest because the terms of access to the exchange market are shorter.
Massa ended his tour of China on Saturday, where he covered a broad agenda of issues relevant to the bilateral relationship. Infrastructure, exports and investments in key sectors such as energy and mining were part of the menu of conversations with officials and companies in Shanghai and Beijing. The most relevant for the difficulties that the activity is going through in the short term was the renewal of the currency swap and the expansion of what the government calls “the freely available tranche”.
Regarding this last point, the novelty is that once the US$5,000 million that had been agreed last November to be used in different foreign exchange market operations has been exhausted, a second tranche will be enabled for the same amount of money. This reinforcement is given while more and more companies with suppliers in China or in their area of influence turn to the yuan when importing.
To stimulate this operation, the economic team offers a series of incentives for signatures. One of them is the period of access to the official exchange marketwhich is 90 days for imports that are paid with the currency of the Asian giant, while for most of those that are processed in dollars it is 180. A sector that emigrated massively to this operation is that of electronics companies located in Tierra del Fuego, which also confirm that when it comes to inputs in yuan “import permits are released much faster.”
An official report that Ámbito was able to access exclusively reveals the accelerated growth of this operation. In January they were authorized import permits in yuan for just US$28.6 million. But by May that figure climbed to US$1,089 million. In the first five months of the year they reached the equivalent of US$2,321 million. The year-on-year comparison does not exist, because strictly speaking the implementation of this mechanism was carried out by Massa at the end of last year.
“Trade with China in yuan is here to stay,” said the president of the Argentine-China Chamber, Sergio Spadone, in dialogue with Radio 10. Along these lines, he argued that it is Argentina’s second largest trading partner, but that it could become the first in the short term due to the opportunities to export local minerals, especially lithium and copper, so it is normal for commercial operations to be updated.
Doors inside the Government, they recognize the responsibility of the Minister of Economy for this management that will bring relief to the reserves of the Central Bank for more than US$3,000 million only in the first semester. To the already mentioned more than US$2.300 million that were processed in imports in the first five months of the year, some US$630 million will be added in debt payments that will not be disbursed in dollars because two companies voluntarily agreed to transform them into yuan.
Is about mirgorlinked to Nicolás Caputo, which had maturities for US$373.6 million and Newsan, by Rubén Cherñajovsky, which will bring about US$256.7 million in yuan. Official sources confirmed to this outlet that Both importers have already started the process at Customs to adjust the clearances.
Pending the conclusion of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, which according to what they say in the Economy could advance disbursements and enable part of these currencies to intervene in the exchange market, the expansion of the margin to pay for Chinese imports provides a dose of oxygen for what what many see as the most complex front of the election year, exchange rate stability.
Source: Ambito
