Argentina made a roughly US$795 million payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday, September 25, while its central bank ended the trading day without buying dollars and gross reserves finished at US$48.245 billion, according to Análisis Digital, which cited official sources for the payment. The coincidence put the financing challenge in sharp focus: a government seeking to build foreign-exchange buffers also had to meet obligations to its largest multilateral creditor.
A24 also reported the US$795 million payment and a zero-purchase session for the Banco Central de la República Argentina. Análisis Digital described the payment as interest. Earlier reporting by TN, published before the transfer, had described a nearly US$800 million amount due that day and discussed the payment calendar differently. This article identifies the confirmed transfer and cites the post-payment reporting for its description; it does not infer a net-reserve impact from the fall in gross holdings alone.
A payment in the middle of an IMF review
The IMF’s technical delegation was in Buenos Aires to review Argentina’s programme as the payment fell due. TN reported that the visiting team had arrived on September 21 for the third review of the arrangement agreed in April 2025. The government’s access to a further disbursement depended on the review’s outcome, not merely on paying a scheduled instalment. TN put a possible payment from the Fund after a successful review at about US$860 million, a forecast rather than money already received.
TN said dollar deposits held by the Treasury at the central bank had stood at US$2.328 billion as of Monday, September 21. Its report anticipated that the Treasury could use its own dollars for the obligation. That forecast does not establish the exact funding route ultimately used on Friday. Gross reserves, Treasury dollar deposits and analysts’ net-reserve estimates count different pools of money or offset different liabilities; none should be substituted for the other without a defined calculation.
Análisis Digital reported gross BCRA reserves at US$48.245 billion after the day’s transactions. It said the central bank’s currency-market balance was flat rather than positive, the fourth zero-purchase day of 2026 under its dollar-buying programme. The outlet also reported that the September average of BCRA daily purchases through Friday was US$13 million, against US$36 million over the comparable number of trading sessions in August. These are reported averages for specific periods, not a projection for the rest of the month.
The pressure beyond Friday
The exchange rate added another constraint. Análisis Digital reported that the wholesale dollar finished Friday at 1,525 pesos, up 0.4% on the day, while Banco Nación’s retail selling rate closed at 1,545 pesos. The outlet cited market participants who linked unusually strong dollar demand to the fixing of a dollar-linked Treasury instrument; that is a market interpretation, not proof of a single cause for the BCRA’s zero purchases. Pursuing faster reserve accumulation when dollar demand rises can come into tension with limiting a rapid currency move.
According to TN’s September 25 calendar, further IMF obligations were due in November and December. It also highlighted a heavier payments schedule in 2027 than the one for the closing months of 2026. Economists it quoted argued that the size of the reserve buffer would affect the government’s room for manoeuvre if external debt markets remained costly. The country’s later financing options and any IMF disbursement remained conditional on decisions and conditions not yet resolved on Friday.
For now the verified result was limited but material: the government paid about US$795 million, the bank did not add dollars through market purchases that day, and its gross reported reserve stock was US$48.245 billion at the close. The IMF review and subsequent payment dates would test whether Argentina could replenish buffers while remaining current on its commitments.
