Argentina Restricts Banks’ Dollar Bond Purchases, Cronista Says

Argentina’s central bank is banning banks from buying dollar-denominated bonds locally and then paying for them abroad, El Cronista reported citing central bank sources it didn’t name.

The measure comes as lenders increasingly use this arrangement to pull U.S. currency from the country, the Buenos Aires-based newspaper said. About $50 million per month was leaving Argentina through such transactions, Cronista said.

The mechanism is similar to the so-called blue chip swap, where investors buy securities locally using pesos and then sell them abroad to get dollars, except banks use dollars to buy the bonds, Cronista said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Camila Russo in Buenos Aires at crusso15@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net