Argentine will use RMB to settle goods imported from China.
On April 26th, local time, Argentine Economy Minister Felipe Massa held a press conference, announcing that Argentina would stop using US dollars to pay for goods imported from China and use RMB instead.
Zou Xiaoli, China’s ambassador to Argentina, was invited to attend the conference and delivered a speech. Argentine central bank governor Percy, Argentine General Administration of Customs Mitchell and entrepreneurs from China and Argentina witnessed the news release. Massa stressed at the meeting that the currency swap agreement between Argentina and China not only helps to strengthen foreign exchange reserves, but also helps to strengthen bilateral trade.
Massa said that after reaching agreements with different enterprises, Argentina will use RMB to pay for China’s imported goods worth about 1.04 billion US dollars this month. The use of RMB can accelerate the pace of Argentine imports of goods from China in the coming months, and the related authorization will be more efficient. It is estimated that starting from May, Argentina will also use RMB to pay for goods imported from China with the value equivalent to US$ 790 million to US$ 1 billion.
In addition, Massa also stressed that the use of RMB can increase the expectation of Argentina’s net foreign exchange reserves and bring greater freedom.
Zou Xiaoli, Ambassador of China to Argentina, said, "Strengthening economic and trade cooperation between China and Argentina is an important part of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The economies of the two sides are highly complementary and have great potential for cooperation. China supports Albania’s efforts to maintain economic and financial stability, which is also reflected in the Sino-Arab joint statement issued during President Fernandez’s visit to China last year. China attaches importance to monetary and financial cooperation with Albania, and is willing to make joint efforts with Albania to encourage enterprises to use local currency for settlement in bilateral economy, trade and investment, reduce exchange costs and exchange rate risks, and create a good policy environment for promoting local currency settlement. In 2020, the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Argentina renewed the local currency swap agreement, which played an important role in maintaining’s financial stability. The two central banks have also established an information exchange mechanism. China is willing to further strengthen local currency swap cooperation with Albania under the existing framework and support a greater role in the RMB clearing bank in Albania. China has confidence in Afghanistan’s financial and economic stability and the bright future of China-Arab cooperation. "
In January this year, the Argentine central bank said that Argentina and China had formally expanded the currency swap agreement, which would strengthen Argentina’s foreign exchange reserves of 130 billion yuan and activate the disposable quota of 35 billion yuan. (General Desk reporter Gong Xiangcheng)