They impose more controls on the payment of imports and it is feared that they will block them

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In a new attempt to control the demand for dollars, given the impossibility of stopping the drain on reserves, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) imposed new controls and informational quotas for the payment of imports that, according to importers, could paralyze some of that income and cause major shortages of inputs in the coming weeks. The entity released Communication A 7138 by which it puts into effect from this Friday a series of conditions to payments and raises the current requirements to give access to the exchange market for the payment of imports of goods with customs entry registration pending.

It provides the intervening entity must verify that the importer has the declaration made through the Integral Import Monitoring System (SIMI) in OUTPUT status in relation to the goods involved in all cases in which said declaration is a requirement for the registration of the application for import destination for consumption. It also expands the informational regime of Advance of foreign exchange operations foreseen when the operations "imply access to the foreign exchange market for a daily amount equal to or greater than the equivalent of US $ 50,000. The amount implies a reduction to one-tenth of the level that was in force until now.

The gross reserves of the BCRA, which come from drilling the level of US $ 41,000 million, fell again this Thursday by another US $ 70 million (they remained at US $ 40,778 million, according to preliminary data). Net reserves also continue to decline, which are below US $ 6 billion (almost US $ 4 billion is the position in gold that it maintains in its portfolio), after a day in which the entity had poured US $ 50 million into the market (somewhat as well as 20% of what was traded on the day) so that the wholesale or commercial dollar closes at $ 77.47, just 1 cent above the level of the previous closing.

What affects the most is that any company, to request an advance payment for imports, has to have the ok of the Integral Import Monitoring System (SIMI) in an exit state. And the reality is that the Ministry of Commerce does not today is delivering these non-automatic licensing or does drabs. Just leave automatic alert Ruben Garcia president of the Chamber of Importers of the Republic Argentina (CIRA).

Importers denounce that the procedures to authorize non-automatic import licenses are blocked. There is no response from the official entities. They do not answer emails or calls.

They describe that these are authorizations that are required to bring to the country from Led lights, tires, textiles, footwear, fiber optics and all kinds of supplies.

Some of these operations managed to be carried out in a trickle when importers presented the purchase documents to the banks to process advances that would allow them to be closed. With the obligation imposed on them to request the approved license and in the exit state, the little that was entering the country in this way could be blocked they warn in the companies, some of which already face problems in the supply of inputs.

Foreign trade experts warn that the new obstacles will cause problems for the country before the World Trade Organization (WTO), because they will tend to lengthen the delays that already exist in many cases to specify imports.