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China and Argentina reinforce financial links with increased currency swap arrangement

Wednesday, June 6th 2018 - 08:45 UTC
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Cabinet chief Marcos Peña, said “we have an active swap with China that the previous government left us and we will try to make it bigger.” Cabinet chief Marcos Peña, said “we have an active swap with China that the previous government left us and we will try to make it bigger.”
In July 2014, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Argentina agreed a currency swap deal worth 70 billion Yuan (US$ 11.3 billion). In July 2014, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Argentina agreed a currency swap deal worth 70 billion Yuan (US$ 11.3 billion).

Argentina is looking to expand an existing currency swap arrangement with China, as Buenos Aires looks to stabilize the economy one month after applying for financial aid from the International Monetary Fund. In an interview with the Financial Times, Argentina’s Chief of Cabinet Marcos Peña, said “we have an active swap with China that the previous government left us and we will try to make it bigger.”

In July 2014, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Argentina agreed a currency swap deal worth 70 billion Yuan (US$ 11.3 billion).

According to China Daily, the deal allowed the two institutions to exchange payments in one currency for equivalent amounts in the other, facilitating bilateral trade settlements and provide liquidity support to financial markets.

Under the terms of the currency swap, Argentina can pay for Chinese exports using the Yuan, and use the Chinese currency to bolster its foreign currency reserves.

After the 2014 currency swap deal, Argentine economist Ramiro Castineira from Econometrica said the agreement had “saved” the country's economy by propping up the peso and shielding the economy “from international financial woes.”

The 2014 deal was extended last July, with the two central banks agreeing a further swap of 70 billion Yuan for 175 billion Argentine Pesos.

Along with support from the People’s Bank of China, Peña told the Financial Times that Argentina was seeking a package of aid from the IMF, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the CAF Latin American development bank and private sector lenders.

Since the start of the year, the Peso has fallen by more than 20%, with a strong US dollar and high US Treasury bond yields affecting emerging market currencies across the world.

Last month, Buenos Aires reached out to the IMF for a “line of financial aid,” a move which proved controversial among Argentines after a previous IMF bailout in 2001 that led to very tight austerity.

In 2014, China and Argentina established a comprehensive strategic partnership, with bilateral trade hitting US$ 12.32 billion in 2016.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with President Mauricio Macri in Buenos Aires on May 22, with both sides agreeing to strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas.

According to Xinhua, Wang told Macri that as a comprehensive strategic partner of Argentina, China would like to offer whatever assistance was within its ability to Argentina, referring to the current economic and financial situation.

Top Comments

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  • Enrique Massot

    What a difference a few years and a couple of elections can make.

    The Macri government is seeking financial aid not just from the IMF, but from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the CAF Latin American development bank, private sector lenders and has also developed a new love for financial deals with China--deals that Macri and his allies bitterly criticized when started by the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

    In 2014, Macri wrote a letter to ambassador Yan Wanming advising his low opinion of the agreements.

    “The Argentine government conduct may violate the Constitution and be contrary to basic transparency principles of public administration,” wrote Macri at the time.

    Indeed, for a government whose only governance method appears to be creating a humongous debt, China's yen were too much of a low-hanging fruit that Macri could not let pass.

    Jun 06th, 2018 - 07:18 pm -2
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