The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed this Monday that Its board of directors will meet next Wednesday, August 23, to approve disbursements for Argentina for US$10.750 million for the coming months.
The Director of Communications of the (IMF), julie kozackindicated that: “On July 28, the Argentine authorities and IMF staff reached an agreement at the staff level on the fifth and sixth reviews under the Expanded Facility Fund (EFF) arrangement of 30 months from Argentina. The agreement is subject to the approval of the Executive Board of the IMF, which is expected to meet on August 23 and approve the agreed disbursements.
According to reports, the international organization would disburse close to u$s8,000 million that same August 23 and another US$2.750 million during the first week of November, before a possible ballot.
He Staff Level Agreement (SLA) published by the body of technicians of the organism It had warned that the disbursement would be approved when the government implements a series of agreed measures.
And this Monday, the Central Bank decided to raise the official exchange rate to $350, which implies a devaluation of 17.9% compared to the last closing price.
At the same time, raised the interest rate by 21 basis points to 118% per year to contain deposits in bank accounts and avoid additional pressure on the informal exchange rate. This means a estimated annual rate (TEA) of 209% (TEA), a monthly rate of 9.7%, which would be what savers should obtain for holding holdings.
Meanwhile, the wholesale dollar rose 20.1% to $350, partly accompanying the official depreciation.
With this adjustment of the official exchange rate, the “Savings” dollar came to cost $638, the same as the “Card” dollar, while the Qatar dollar climbed to $731. The MEP dollar advances to $613.96 and Cash with Settlement to $651.34.
At the moment, no other measures are known, such as some kind of exchange rate simplification. The exchange rate update was one of the IMF requirements to approve the disbursement of US$7.5 billion.
In a press release, the Central Bank indicated that, after the monetary policy update, “the minimum guaranteed rates on fixed terms will be redefined based on the new level of the policy rate.”
“The monetary authority considers it convenient to readjust the level of interest rates of the monetary regulation instruments, in line with the recalibration of the level of the official exchange rate. This, in order to anchor exchange expectations and minimize the degree of transfer to prices, tend towards positive real returns on investments in local currency and favor the accumulation of international reserves”, pointed out the entity in charge of Miguel Pesce.
In turn, the central bank it will continue to monitor the evolution of the general price level, the dynamics of the financial and exchange markets, and of the monetary aggregates in order to calibrate its rate policy.
Source: Ambito
