This is how one of the most listened to consultants in the city explains it: “It is worth noting that, in the middle of the summer holidays, last week the stock of loans for consumption in dollars with cards reached US$675 million, a level not seen since 2018something that can explain the greater demand for MEP and the constant presence of the Central to contain the gap and keep the CCL below that glass ceiling at $1,190.”
How Argentines pay expenses in dollars
Yes ok The demand for financial dollars increased due to the convenience of its valuein recent months, the BCRA reported in its Exchange Balance that Still, approximately half of card consumption in dollars is paid with access to the MULC. This phenomenon is explained by a very simple relationship: for relatively small balances, as software subscriptions and streaming platformsconsumers use the dollar card.
However, since consultant 1816report that consumers prefer acquire financial dollars to cancel consumption in foreign currency when it comes to more expensive expenses such as tickets, stays and other tourism expenses.
In fact, they report that “the growth of payments abroad via virtual walletswhich is not reflected in the card balance statistics, also generates immediate demand for CCL and could explain why AL30 and GD30 volumes against cable grew significantly in January”.
Vacations, consumption abroad, and greater demand for dollars
According to the consultant Labor Capital and Growth (LCG), the BCRA increased the degree of intervention in the dollar markets financial institutions in order to maintain parities of securities. “The daily volume operated in AL30 and GD30 so far in January has averaged US$84 millionsensibly for above levels in effect at the beginning of December“they explained.
It should be noted that this intervention is recorded in “Others” within the factors explaining international reserves, which this month also includes the US$1 billion product of the REPO with international banks that the BCRA closed.
To these figures it must be added that, according to estimates made by Adcap, The Central has sold US$721 million in January, a somewhat more intense level of intervention than in December when some US$320 million were sold in the CCL. In any case, they highlighted that, in January, “The BCRA’s official purchases remain firm at US$1,517 million, even more than in December, when it had purchased just over US$900 million.”
For its part, since Aurum Valuescontributed that, since the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, announced the intervention in CCL/MEP US$1.7 billion were allocated directly. These data arise from the BCRA’s Exchange Balance until November and from the presentation of the entity’s vice president, Vladimir Werning.
“This figure compares with the almost US$2.1 billion that Sergio Massa used in the first seven months of 2023. “We cannot rule out that, at the end of January 2025, the accumulated level of official intervention in the CCL/MEP market will reach a figure similar to that of those months of 2023.”they reported.
Source: Ambito

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