Overview
- BCRA president Santiago Bausili will travel to Shanghai in June to attend a Bank for International Settlements event and hold talks with Chinese officials about extending the bilateral currency swap.
- The swap framework, first signed in 2009 and last renewed in 2023, formally expires on 6 August 2026 and currently provides access to 130,000 million yuan, about US$20 billion.
- Argentina has been repaying amounts drawn from the facility and recorded an outstanding balance of about US$675 million as of January 2026 that it expects to cancel gradually this year.
- Under the agreement each central bank records a non‑interest bearing deposit in the other’s currency that can be drawn for authorized payments, a mechanism Argentina has used to cover imports and external obligations without tapping FX reserves.
- Beyond liquidity relief, the talks carry geopolitical weight because past administrations used roughly US$5 billion from the swap and international pressure over Chinese influence has shaped Argentine diplomatic calculations.