BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina posted a record $18.9 billion trade surplus for 2024, according to official data released on Monday, that largely coincides with libertarian President Javier Milei's first full year on the job.
Last year's trade surplus exceeds the previous annual record of $16.89 billion set in 2009, and came in at the upper end of the forecast from analysts polled by Reuters, who expected a figure between $18 billion and $19 billion.
December's monthly trade balance featured a $1.67 billion surplus, marking thirteen consecutive months that the value of exports exceeded the value of imports. The December data was also well above the $921 million surplus forecast in a Reuters poll.
Since he took office in late 2023, Milei has bet on boosting grains and energy exports along with slashing public spending in a bid to tame runaway inflation in South America's second-biggest economy.
The far-right economist and one-time political outsider aims to make Argentina a net energy exporter, powered by its vast shale oil and gas reserves, while also easing currency controls to boost other exports, including from the country's major grains sector.
The value of last year's exports stood at nearly $80 billion, led by farming and ranching, while imports totaled almost $61 billion, according to data from the government's official statistics office.
Neighboring Brazil was the main destination for Argentina's exports last year, accounting for 17% of the total, followed by buyers in the United States and Chile.
(Reporting by Hernan Nessi and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by David Alire Garcia)