Argentina will slash export duties on all grains to zero until October 31, Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni announced on Monday morning. The move aims to bring in a stream of dollars at a moment when the financial authorities are hemorrhaging international reserves to stabilize the peso.

A government source and exporters have confirmed to the Herald that the measure includes products in the soy complex. Adorni added on Monday afternoon that export duties on beef and poultry would also be eliminated.

Last week, the Central Bank sold US$1.1 billion over three days to defend the value of the peso after it reached the upper limit of the currency bands. 

President Javier Milei’s government has blamed the currency run on market fears that the opposition could perform well in the upcoming national legislative elections. Milei has also faced several legislative defeats on public spending in recent weeks. 

However, economists have pointed out that the government’s decisions have also worried markets, including their decision not to buy dollars when they were in a position to do so.

“The old politics seeks to generate uncertainty in order to sabotage the government’s program. In doing so, they punish Argentinians: we will not allow it,” Adorni wrote on X on Monday morning.

“That is why, with the goal of increasing the supply of dollars during this period, until October 31 there will be zero export duties on all grains.”

That date is five days after Argentina’s national mid-term elections, in which half of the lower house and a third of the upper house will be renewed. 

At the start of the year, the government announced a temporary cut in export duties. The rates were briefly restored in late June, but Milei announced a “permanent” reduction a month later.

Cutting export duties to zero means the government is temporarily foregoing a significant source of tax income in order to incentivize exports that will bring in dollars.

The rural sector has said that the national 2026 budget presented last week implies the government is not planning further cuts to export duties, since the budget contains forecasts that income from export duty will rise by 23% next year.