BCRA buys $160 million in highest daily intake in two months

The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic bought $160 million in the foreign exchange market on September 30, marking its largest single-day purchase since July 24, when it absorbed $345 million. Total spot market trading reached $1,033.6 million during the session, which was the highest volume since March 2025. Across the final two sessions of the month, the monetary authority acquired $230 million, representing nearly 49% of its total intake for September.

Despite the daily purchase, gross international reserves fell by $1,392 million during the session to finish at $46,090 million, hitting their lowest level since July 1 due to end-of-month bank reserve requirement movements. Economist Javier Giordano from CFA noted that the bank absorbed 15.5% of the total traded on the MLC, well above the monthly daily purchase average of $21.5 million.

Monthly purchases totaled $473 million in September, the lowest monthly tally of the year and down 38.6% from the $770 million acquired in August. Total purchases under the reserve accumulation program launched early in the year stand at $14,568 million. Nicolás Merino from ABC Mercado de Cambios highlighted that overall volume in the foreign exchange market reached $14,080 million in September, which was 31% higher than in August.

In the foreign exchange market, the wholesale Argentine peso appreciated as the US dollar dropped by 5 pesos from 1,522 to 1,517 pesos per dollar, marking three consecutive daily declines. Over September, the currency rose 0.56%, bringing year-to-date dollar gains to 4.26%. Meanwhile, the central bank's Multilateral Real Exchange Rate Index dropped from 94.3 to 85.1 points, while government foreign currency holdings designated for debt payments fell to $1,409 million, their lowest point since June.