Argentina will not end its controls restricting access to foreign currency in the near term, Central Bank President Alejandro Vanoli was quoted as saying in an interview published on Sunday. Shut out of global credit markets since its record 2002 default on $100 billion, the South American country introduced the restrictions three years ago in a move to prevent capital flight and protect its then-dwindling foreign reserves.
Asked if the bank might end the restrictions given a rise in reserves over the past few months, Vanoli ruled out any short term measures, saying it was important to strengthen the current stability in the currency markets.
"It would be technically possible to eliminate the restrictions in the short term but the aim is to find mechanisms to manage capital that are not so pro-cyclical," he told Pagina12 newspaper.
Argentina's reserves stand at $31.3 billion, boosted from a 2014-low of $26.9 bln by currency swap loans from China.
Meanwhile the margin between the official exchange rate and black market rate has narrowed back to around 50 percent from 70 percent a few months ago, partly due to a crackdown on the unofficial market for greenbacks.
"We do not want to return to a situation where to raise reserves or compensate for a fall in reserves, we have to issue debt like in 1989 or carry out a mega devaluation like in 1991," Vanoli said.
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