BUENOS AIRES, April 5 (Reuters) - Argentina's plan to increase its foreign currency reserves by boosting soybean exports, to be announced on Wednesday, will come into effect on Saturday and will run until May 24, a government source said.
The “soy dollar” plan aims to increase sales and exports of soybeans and its by-products by offering producers an exchange rate higher than the official rate of 210 pesos per dollar at a time when the government is seeking to increase its reserves to deal with a difficult economic crisis.
"The agreement with the (agro-exporting) grain companies to establish a guaranteed minimum settlement from April 8 to May 24," the source told Reuters late on Tuesday night.
The source, who requested to remain anonymous, did not give details regarding the exchange rate the government is expected to offer.
At the end of last year, in the second of the 'soy dollar' plans already launched by Argentina, the exchange rate offered was 230 pesos to the dollar.
The inflow of foreign currency is expected to ease Argentina's battered economy, although it is unlikely to significantly offset the negative effects of a historic drought.
While the government has not yet published its estimate for the 2022/23 soybean season, the major Buenos Aires grain exchange projects soybean production will reach just 25 million tonnes, which would be the worst result in 23 years. (Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Conor Humphries)
