© Reuters. Argentina places debt in the local market for 1,962 million dollars
Buenos Aires, Mar 22 (.).- Argentina placed on Wednesday in the domestic market Treasury bills and bonds in Argentine currency for a total cash value of 416,546 million pesos (about 1,962 million dollars), official sources reported.
As specified by the Argentine Ministry of Economy in a statement, in the operation on Wednesday Treasury Liquidity Bills maturing on April 21 and a nominal annual rate of 72% were placed for 45,956 million pesos (about 216.5 million of dollars).
Likewise, two series of Treasury bills were placed with returns tied to inflation: one for 119,771 million pesos (564 million dollars) maturing next July and another for 57,306 million pesos (270 million dollars), with due in September of this year.
Treasury bills maturing in June and a nominal annual yield of 89.19% were also tendered, for 62,909 million pesos (296 million dollars), and others, maturing in July and a rate of 92.74%, for 23,307 million pesos (110 million dollars).
Meanwhile, dual currency Treasury bonds maturing in February 2024 were placed for 93,413 million pesos (440 million dollars), and Treasury bonds with yield tied to the dollar price and maturing in April 2024, for 13,885 million pesos (65.4 million dollars).
This Wednesday was the first of the two tenders scheduled by the Ministry of Economy for March, in continuity with the strategy of resorting to the domestic market launched in 2020 and ratified in the extended facilities program sealed with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF), in March 2022.
The objective of these tenders is to obtain financing to face the successive maturities of Treasury debt and, in addition, capture the liquidity of Argentine pesos and thus decompress the demand for the purchase of dollars by investors for hedging purposes.
According to sources from the Ministry of Economy, in the operation on Wednesday the Treasury seeks financing for at least 367,354 million pesos (1,716 million dollars) to face debt maturities.
In the agreement with the IMF, Argentina promised to limit and gradually cut assistance to the Treasury by the Central Bank, so the search for financing in the domestic market has become even more fundamental.
As stated in the 2023 Budget, the Treasury will continue to go to the local debt market this year to obtain financing equivalent to 2.7% of GDP there.