© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the Argentine Central Bank in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Agotin Markarian
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s central bank bought $451 million in foreign currency on Wednesday to boost its dwindling hard currency reserves, after daily sales of agricultural exports topped $1 billion, providing some relief to the country’s hard-hit finances.
The currency’s move on Wednesday marked the largest such buying since late December.
In May, the central bank bought a total of $855 million, according to dealers consulted by Reuters, in the largest monthly purchase of dollars since last September.
The government has stimulated grain exports — Argentina’s main source of dollars — in the past two months at a preferential exchange rate, helping bring in more than $5 billion in total. That action officially ended on Wednesday.
The prolonged economic recession in the South American country has affected the bank’s foreign exchange reserves needed to pay off debts as well as to finance many imports.
