Argentina’s central bank bought US$369 million in the five sessions through Friday, 2 October 2026, even as households kept buying dollars and companies and provinces issued dollar debt. Ámbito reported that this marked the bank’s largest weekly total since July. In iProfesional, Salvador Di Stéfano argued that individuals had bought twice as many dollars as the central bank.
The central bank and the IMF target
The Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) bought US$70 million on Tuesday, US$160 million on Wednesday and US$93 million on Thursday. It added US$35 million on Friday. Gross reserves climbed US$364 million that day, reaching US$48.653 billion.
In 2026, the BCRA’s purchases had reached US$14.696 billion, topping the US$10 billion target agreed with the International Monetary Fund. Economy Minister Luis Caputo projected US$19.4 billion in purchases for the year. To hit that figure, the bank would need to buy about US$5 billion more in three months, a pace iProfesional said the market viewed as demanding.
September marked the weakest month since the buying program began early in 2026. Daily purchases averaged US$22 million, compared with US$38 million in August and US$137 million in May. The figures show the central bank buying dollars while savers also move money into dollar holdings.
Households and the dollar market
According to the central bank’s exchange balance, cited by iProfesional and Infobae, households bought US$2.853 billion through banks in August. After sales, their net purchases totaled US$2.463 billion, with about 1.7 million buyers. Around US$1.1 billion stayed on deposit in local banks.
Three banks told iProfesional that savers’ net September sales probably topped US$2.7 billion. That remains a preliminary estimate; the central bank hadn’t published its September exchange balance. From April 2025 through August 2026, individuals bought US$47.29 billion gross and US$40.34 billion net, Infobae reported, citing central bank data.
Many of those dollars ended up outside the financial system, adding to the US$268.8 billion in “mattress dollars” estimated in June. Di Stéfano put individual purchases since December 2023 at US$72.9 billion, against US$36.5 billion bought by the central bank. His column didn’t specify which data series it used. For individuals since April 2025, he cited US$63.8 billion—above the official gross figure of US$47.29 billion.
Debt deals and uncertain supply
Traders disagreed about where the central bank’s dollars came from. Some pointed to San Juan province, which had raised US$600 million in New York days earlier. Gabriel Caamaño, of consultancy Outlier, estimated that the bank had agreed directly to buy much of Wednesday’s total as a block outside the market.
Companies and provinces placed almost US$3.2 billion in dollar debt in September, and analysts expected more deals of that kind. No one had confirmed the source of Wednesday’s large purchase. Analysts quoted by iProfesional disagreed over whether the week’s purchases were a one-off, and October buying might not keep up the pace set in the first two sessions.
Di Stéfano called the trend benign, pointing to a US$26.8 billion rise in private dollar deposits and US$21.7 billion more in dollar loans. He called a tax on dollar purchases floated that week by economist Santángelo “a delusion.” Former central bank chief Martín Redrado told iProfesional the open question was whether dollars would cover both debt payments and rising dollarization. Country risk hit a 2026 high of 655 points on Friday, El Economista reported.