Greenback ‘Coldplay’, ‘Luxo’ and ‘Qatar’ enhance change charge checklist in Argentina

Created for the World Cup, the “Qatar dollar” will be applied to consumption in dollars with credit and debit cards, tourist packages and tickets over US$ 300

In a new attempt to prevent the flight of dollars, Argentina created three more quotations for the conversion of Argentine pesos to the American currency, called “Coldplay dollar”, “Qatar dollar” and “luxury dollar”. In all, today there are at least 14 different quotations for the dollar in the country. A recent report by the EFE agency, however, pointed out that the number could be even higher, counting options that are almost never used. The total could reach 30 different varieties of “dollar”.

Created for the World Cup, the “Qatar dollar” will be applied to consumption in dollars with credit and debit cards, tourist packages and tickets over US$ 300, at an exchange rate of 300 Argentine pesos per unit. The “Coldplay dollar” is worth about 204 pesos, an exchange rate more expensive than the one applied to the payment of import services. The “Luxury dollar”, used to purchase imported luxury items, will have the same price as the “Qatar dollar”.

According to Alexandre Jorge Chaia, a professor at Insper, the different exchange rates for the dollar in Argentina are a way for the government to create taxes without calling them taxes. “In order not to create taxes, the government of Argentina creates different prices for the dollar to prevent the massive outflow of dollars for what it considers superfluous”, explains the expert.

Chaia stresses that this affects the growth of the Argentine economy, because of restrictions and rules that make room for bribes and preferences, making it difficult to commercialize products and services. “This whole scenario encourages the exchange for the blue dollar (parallel exchange) or makes Argentines travel to Uruguay to withdraw the dollar”, he says.

Chaia also claims that this way of holding the dollar in the country is not effective. “These measures are much more exotic than practical. It’s like trying to hold water with your hands. The world is global and people will find ways out.”

Rachel de Sá, Rico’s chief economist, believes that the different exchange rates in Argentina reflect the problems of the local economy, and that these measures only work in the very short term and can even lead tourists to seek the parallel exchange rate.

“The blue dollar is looked at by Brazilians because the real is worth more (compared to the peso). The parallel reflects the real value of the currency plus a rate. This value is much lower than the official value, which drives people to this market to trade,” he says.

Because of this, Brazilians who go to Argentina for leisure or move there to be digital nomads start to have days of wealth in the country because of the better exchange rate of the real against the dollar.

“For example, on October 13, one dollar was equivalent to 157.25 (pesos) in the official quotation, while in the parallel market one dollar was equivalent to 291, a difference of 85%”, says Celso Pereira, investment director at the account startup. international nomads.

However, as there is no supervision, there is greater volatility and risks associated with the blue dollar. Brazilians should choose to obtain Argentine pesos in establishments with a good reputation to avoid involvement with counterfeit bills delivered in exchange for dollars, aleta Pereira.

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