BCRA reserves

Gross international reserves USD 49,723 M as of Oct 14, 2026 (official BCRA series): +6,618 M so far in 2026 (43,105 M on Jan 2). Every quarter close pushes them down for a few days because of banks' reserve-requirement movements: on 30-Sep they fell 1,390 M in one day, to 46,092 M, and the same happened on 30-Jun (44,870 M, and 47,067 M the next day). Through the end of September, the year's peak was 50,913 M on 25-Aug. September's decline has three parts that are kept apart: (1) the central bank's purchases in the market nearly stopped: 2,770, 2,601, 1,418 and 2,162 M a month between April and July, 770 M in August and 313 M in September, the year's lowest-buying month, which coincides with the end of the main harvest's FX inflows; (2) payments to international organizations took off 1,378 M in September, 790 M of them on 25-Sep; (3) the end-of-month and end-of-quarter reserve-requirement movement. Through September, the year's purchases add up to 14,421 M. The IMF target is sealed in the primary source: +3,500 M by 30-Jun and +8,000 M for the year (staff report CR 26/105, performance criteria table) — mind the yardstick: the target is measured in NET reserves under the program's definition, a different measure from the gross reserves in this series (the two numbers aren't directly comparable). Under the program's yardstick, the June target was met ahead of time (~6,300 M: press convergence, pending the official verdict of the 3rd review). That review's technical mission was in Buenos Aires from 21 to 29-Sep; according to the IMF, talks continue in the coming weeks to reach the staff-level agreement, which does not exist yet. The full arc is honest: the Dec-2025 target had been missed (-12.1 vs -1.0 committed; IMF waiver due to pre-election FX pressure) — 2026 is the program's first year with accumulation running ahead of the target. The central bank has two swap lines: with the People's Bank of China, for 130,000 M yuan (about USD 18,600 M at the ratio the BCRA itself uses, 35,000 M yuan = USD 5,000 M), renewed on 5-Aug-2026 for five years and with USD 5,000 M activated since 2023; and with the US Treasury, for up to USD 20,000 M, whose 2025 operations were unwound in December 2025 and whose term has not been published. Caveat on the STOCK: the level includes the IMF disbursement of ~USD 11,800 M from Apr-2025. verif · Oct 14, 2026 ↗