The Argentine Central Bank’s foreign-exchange reserves have risen by $162 million to $31.3 billion thanks to an influx of Chinese funds, Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich said Wednesday.
The activation of a new tranche of a currency-swap program with China also has allowed Argentina to go through with “import cancellations with respect to energy, appliances and other imported goods,” Capitanich said in a press conference.
The currency-swap program is an $11 billion financial assistance mechanism for the South American country that was signed in July during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Buenos Aires.
The agreement is for three years, renewable annually, at an annual interest rate of between 6 percent and 7 percent.
The Asian giant has provided Argentina with $2.7 billion worth of yuan to date, raising to 8.7 percent the proportion of the Central Bank’s foreign reserves that are in the Chinese currency.
Date : January 14, 2015
Source: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2369451&CategoryId=14093
