Neither the temporary drop in retentions nor the rise in international prices that consolidated an increase of more than 30% since last March, managed to accelerate the liquidation of foreign currency in agriculture in November, which would end up with around $1.6 billion, a drop of about 5% concerning the previous month. The year would end with a fall of approximately 15%.
Category: Macroeconomy/Finance
Information regarding Argentina’s productive sector and the country’s macroeconomy.
The price in dollars of the properties had its biggest fall in 15 years in Buenos Aires
Hand in hand with the loss of value of the peso against the dollar, the price of real estate in the City of Buenos Aires is increasingly lower. The dollar values of used two and three-room apartments showed an average decrease of 6.7% during the last quarter and 16.7% in its interannual comparison. The drop reaches 22.09% if we compare the current value with February 2019 (the peak) which reached $2,400 per m2, this is the seventh quarter of consecutive falls.
The private industry fell 3.2% in October
The Industrial Production Index (IPI) registered a year-on-year fall of 3.2% in October. Concerning September, the activity showed an advance of 1.2%, although in seasonally adjusted terms it did not improve.
Due to the pandemic, unemployment in the city of Buenos Aires jumped to 13.4%
Due to the pandemic, and the quarantine paralyzed vast sectors of the economic activity, in the third quarter of this year in the city of Buenos Aires, almost 199,807 people were unemployed, and unemployment jumped to 13.4%. There is an improvement compared to 14.7% in the second quarter, but a deterioration compared to a year ago when it was 10.5%.
Trade surplus decreased by 65% compared to October 2019
Under the effect of a high exchange rate gap, the trade surplus fell in October tou$612 million, according to the INDEC on Tuesday. The figure was 65% lower than that recorded in October 2019. This decline caused by a 21.6% year-on-year drop in exports, the highest so far this year. According to data from the official institute of public statistics, foreign sales during the tenth month of the year totalled some $4.6 billion. Imports were $4 billion, with a decline of only 2.8% year-on-year.
Public companies need $6.9 million per day to operate
Five hundred fifty-seven million pesos per day ($6.9 mn) is the amount needed to sustain the operation of the public companies during the first nine months of the year, 60% more than in 2019.
International soybean price closed at $439.15
The price of soybeans in the international market closed yesterday its seventh consecutive day of rising to reach $439.15 per ton, its highest value in six years, a figure that also revalues the local harvest to a record $15.5 billion. It is an ideal scenario for the Argentinean economy that would start receiving the most substantial foreign currency income between March and April next year.
Treasury to use $4.27 billion in BCRA profit transfers through year-end
In the last two weeks, the Treasury requested assistance from the Central Bank in the form of profit transfers of 60 billion pesos ($745 mn). The government will use the $4.27 billion margin it still has for 2020. The Central Bank can finance Treasury in two ways: transitory advances -TA- (10% of the monetary base or 12% of the collection of the last 12 months) and profit transfers.
Harvest of soy and corn revalued at $24.3bn, thanks to rise in prices
The rise in the international prices of soy and corn revalued the local harvest to $24.33 billion, which represents an increase of 43% over the previous cycle and a possible income of foreign currency - taking into account the values of the main exportable products such as by-products and soy oil - of around $26.5 billion, showing a rise of 14% over the previous campaign, according to an analysis made by the Rosario Stock Exchange.
Half of all formal wages are already below the poverty line
Half of the wages in the formal sector of the Argentine economy are below the poverty line, according to official government data. In October, retail inflation was 3.8%, but Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 4.8%, Apparel and Footwear increased by 6.2% and Home Equipment and Maintenance increased 4.5%. These are all items that are closely linked to the maintenance of the middle-class condition. With the deterioration of the purchasing power of formal salaries, what is happening is that even with formal salaried employment, income is not enough to get out of poverty.
