The monetary authority deepens the accumulation of reserves with 70 consecutive rounds of purchases, while maintaining the exchange rate and advancing financial normalization
At the same time, the volume traded in the cash segment reached USD 514.7 million this Monday, in a scenario of strong demand that supported the wholesale dollar rising by 12.50 pesos (0.9%) to 1,377 pesos, returning to the value recorded on April 9. Within the current exchange rate scheme, the Central Bank set the upper band at 1,687.07 pesos, leaving the official exchange rate 310.07 pesos (22.5%) below that ceiling, thus allowing purchases in the wholesale market to continue without significant tensions
In parallel with the exchange rate front, the Central Bank advanced measures aimed at normalizing the financial system and reactivating credit.
Along these lines, it decided to relax bank lending requirements and reopen the active pass window, re-establishing the so-called interest rate corridor.
This mechanism establishes a reference range: the lower limit is set by passive passes, currently at 20%, which correspond to the rate that the BCRA pays to banks for their excess liquidity; while the upper limit is constituted by active passes, with a rate of 25%, applied when banks require immediate financing.
The broker's objective is to avoid abrupt fluctuations in the cost of money, stabilizing short-term rates and offering greater predictability to the financial system, a necessary condition for boosting credit and economic activity.
However, challenges persist on the credit front. A report by consultancy firm 1816 warns of a sustained deterioration in household loans.
According to data from the Central Bank of Debtors, delinquency on loans to families increased for 16 consecutive months, reaching 11.2% in February, the highest level in more than twenty years.
The economic stabilization process promoted by the successful government of Javier Milei continues to show concrete signs on the exchange and monetary front, with a policy aimed at strengthening reserves, ordering issuance and regaining predictability in the markets. Within this framework, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic(BCRA) is deepening its foreign exchange accumulation strategy, consolidating a key pillar of the economic program. In particular, the monetary authority linked 70 consecutive days with purchases of dollars in the official market, both through direct transactions and through block transactions with companies and organizations.
This Monday, the BCRA acquired USD 131 million, bringing the cumulative total so far this year to more than USD 6.1 billion.
Since the implementation of the new monetary scheme in January 2026, the Central Bank has incorporated USD 6,151 million, a figure that already represents 61% of the annual reserve accumulation objective. In April, in addition, the pace of purchases accelerated: in the last week alone, USD 595 million was added. However, the accumulation of international reserves was partially offset by foreign currency debt payments made by the Treasury, which relied in part on dollars purchased by the Central Bank itself. This factor moderated the net growth of foreign assets, although without altering the general strengthening trend
. Buying and selling dollars
To sustain the pace of purchases, the BCRA moved forward with the issuance of pesos without direct sterilization, while the Treasury complemented the strategy by placing securities in local currency, absorbing liquidity and avoiding disorderly monetary expansion. The central objective of this scheme is to contain pressures on the exchange rate and inflation, in line with the policy of macroeconomic discipline
.
Official projections indicate that, depending on the dynamics between the demand for pesos and the supply of foreign exchange, the net balance of purchases could be between USD 10,000 and USD 17 billion in 2026. In this regard, the president of the BCRA, Santiago Bausili, stressed that these factors will be decisive for the
final result.
At the close of the last day, international reserves reached USD 45,747 million, with a daily drop of USD 44 million. It should be remembered that in February the stock had reached USD 46,905 million, the highest level since 2018 and the highest level during the current administration. The recent changes respond both to debt payments and to fluctuations in the valuation of assets—such as gold and bonds—in a
