Argentina's trade balance was reversed in December after the strong devaluation of the peso by President Javier Milei's government.
The nation recorded a negative trend almost throughout 2023, closing out the year with an annual deficit of US$6.926 billion, as informed on Thursday by the INDEC national statistics bureau.
On December 13, President Javier Milei's government devalued the peso by more than 50 percent, giving a strong boost to exports the last month of the year, which resulted in a surplus of US$1.018 billion.
Driven mainly by sales in the agroindustrial sector, Argentina’s exports in December amounted to US$5.273 billion (still 13.8 percent less than the same month in 2022) and it imported to the tune of US$4.255 billion (minus 15.2 percent).
February had been the last month of 2023 with a trade surplus, under a system of foreign exchange and import control, which Milei’s Government has started to make more flexible.
Throughout 2023, Argentina had sales abroad for US$66.788 billion, 24.5 percent less than in 2022 due to a drought which dealt a hard blow to the farming sector and took 3 percent from the GDP, according to the previous government. Imports amounted to US$73.714 billion (-9.6 percent).
The devaluation affected the increase of exports, and, in turn, the purchase of foreign currency by the Central Bank, whose weakened reserves reached US$24.3 billion, some US$5 billion accumulated during the new government.
The projection of the Argentine trade balance for 2024 is a surplus over the next few years “based on an expected balance of US$22.4 billion for 2024, until an excess near US$41.8 billion is achieved by 2030”, according to a report by the Central Bank.
Following that trend, the new network of the oil and gas pipelines, both built-up and under construction, will be decisive, as they will contribute to substituting imports and will help go from an estimated US$10.4 million in fuel exports to US$36.7 billion in 2030, added the document.
– TIMES/AFP
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