The purchase of dollars by individuals fell sharply in October: 900 million USD – 11/26/2018

The devaluation and fall in purchasing power last October led to the purchase of dollars by external retailers the lowest since stocks began: 900 million USD.

The data comes from the foreign exchange balance issued by the Central Bank. Last month, real-sector companies sold US $ 1,400 million in foreign currency. The main sector with a net supply in historical terms – "Oilseeds and cereals" – achieved a turnover of 1,300 million US dollars, an annual decrease of 21%, generated by drought.

The other real sector companies had net sales of US $ 100 million, "reversing their historical behavior as net plaintiffs in the market," the report said. In addition, it indicates that the difference with net purchases of 2,200 million US dollars in October 2017 is mainly explained by the brake on imports of the last months.

Institutional investors had a net demand of US $ 600 million, which represented a third average monthly net outflow since the beginning of the exchange rate instability last April.

The current account, which includes exports of goods and services and primary and secondary incomes in accordance with the balance of payments definitions, recorded a deficit of 374 million USD, with a reduction of US $ 1,900 million compared to the October red of the previous year.

While the capital and financial account of the "non-financial private sector" had a $ 1,300 million deficit, which decreased by US $ 2,100 million compared to the monthly average of the first nine months of 2018. This decrease is attributable to lower net cash outflows due to portfolio changes, an increase in direct investment income of non-residents and financial debt.

Due to IMF disbursements and borrowing, the public sector and central bank capital and financial account had a surplus of $ 6.6 billion. This allowed international reserves to increase by USD 4,952 million. So, October was closed with a stock of $ 53.955 million.