By Hernan Nessi
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s central bank has started to curb its aggressive buying of dollars, a major boost to build reserves under new libertarian President Javier Milei, something analysts linked to weaker-than-expected sales of grains by the local population. farmers.
The South American country’s grain-producing central bank made net dollar purchases of about $99 million in the first week of June, the lowest level this year after steadily declining last month, central bank data showed.
That underlines the growing challenge for the entity to keep up with the breakneck pace of foreign currency accumulation aimed at rebuilding reserves that were deeply in the red when Milei came to power in December.
Argentina’s central bank has bought more than $17 billion in foreign currencies since Milei took office on December 10 as part of its rapid accumulation of reserves. It needs dollars to pay creditors, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The bank’s accumulation of reserves is critical to restoring economic and financial stability after years of crisis, and crucial to the government’s ability to deliver on its pledge to remove strict currency controls that hamper business and trade , to undo.
