Exiled in Express

At EZE departure I saw a Bank of the Nation ATM with a printed sign in English stating that the limit was 3,000 pesos per transaction. I did not test this as I was leaving and wanted to shed my pesos but BotN in the city may be worth an experiment for future travelers.

In Microcenter I also attempted a withdraw at a Credicoop ATM. Interestingly it had prompts for both pesos and dollars. It would not dispense either to me, instead telling me I had exceeded my limit.

I did bring some USD with me and found that Florida cambio was still very much alive and factoring in the lack of an ATM fee was ~10% better than official rates. 14.2 vs 13.3 - 4% ATM fee. I had no trouble with using credit cards either in merchant acceptance or fraud alerts.

spainflyer

Today's rate quoted in La Nación is 13.7 / 14.1, and these days they quote only "dólar oficial." I think the USD has gained just about one peso since Macrí took office. Why, if the blue dollar continues to exist (as it appears from posts above), I wonder why this is not cited as during the days of La Kirchner? Is it too simple to say that La Nación always supported a more conservative, fiscally-responsible government for Argentina and doesn't want to imply that Macrí doesn't have all the solutions yet?

HIDDY

Not quite sure what you're asking but Macri has only been President for a few weeks...give the bloke a chance. The effects of 12 years of Kichnerism will take years to sort out.

The Blue dollar is 'officially' no more but still exists for those who want to avoid the attentions of AFIP.

Marambio

Somebody's been overthinking

The "blue rate" isn't as important as it used to be because now everyone can buy foreign currency at the official market without the restrictions imposed by the previous government (residents had to validate the purchase at AFIP's website, could buy only whatever amount of USD AFIP allowed them to, and had to pay a special 20% tax on the purchase - now you can purchase anything up to 2 million USD per month by just walking to your bank or bureau de change, and no taxes are added to the sum).

The "blue dollar" still exists for people who do not have their tax situation in order and thus cannot access the official exchange market (every forex transaction is automatically informed to AFIP), hence the rate is usually a bit higher than the official one. The vast majority of people have their tax situation in order and can access the official exchange market. This said, the "blue rate" has always been and still is illegal, and being caught buying/selling foreign currency outwith the official channels (banks and bureaux de change) is a criminal offence, irrespectively of the person's nationality or residence.

One of the (many) crazy things in this country during kirchnerismo was that the media was actually informing the price of USD in the illegal market, which would be similar to informing the daily price of cocaine in Buenos Aires. The whole forex situation was so crazy that nobody did anything to prevent them from doing it. Thankfully they don't do it anymore, and nobody really misses it because you can access the legal market just like in any other country.

malagajohn

You can still find the informal rate published in www.ambito.com

getmethere

Have the currency exchange touts on Florida Street disappeared? How are they making a living now?

Gaucho100K

As posted above.... someone has been thinking too hard....

The Blue rate will still exist and has always existed, remember that a relevant part of this economy is "informal" and so the market for off the books money exist as long as tax avoidance remains relevant. What will continue to happen is that the "spread" between the blue and the market rate will tighten as the economy improves and more economic activity gets absorbed into the formal banking channels. This will all not happen overnight but it is a trend that has begun and will gain momentum as the Government continues to implement measures and reforms - its all work in progress.

spainflyer

Obviously I did not express myself clearly. What I was trying to say is: Macrí has permitted the former dólar blue rate to become the official rate, and as such it has slipped a bit against the USD since he took office.

What his administration has done is stopped subsidizing the importation of capital goods by selling dollars to select and probably connected companies and individuals at 8 to 1, and has accepted the market’s verdict that the peso is worth between 13 and 14 to one.

This also cuts out the contado con liqui trick of buying stock on the Merval in pesos at the official rate and selling it in USD in New York, effectively positioning themselves to then purchase more pesos at the dólar blue rate.

All to the good. And Hiddy, I was not criticizing Macrí or his team (they could hardly do worse than La Kirchner), but only saying that probably the peso has not yet reached its true value against hard currencies, including the USD. But if, as others have said above, the blue rate continues to exist, just much closer to the official rate, I do think La Nación is cutting the new administration some slack by not citing both rates.

Marambio

Indeed La Nación is the new Página 12, but I don't know whether they actually refrain from informing the blue rate because of their macrismo or because the blue rate is now irrelevant for a large chunk of the population.

The true value of the peso is a mystery. Before the devaluation analysts were sure that it would reach 15/16/even 20 pesos per dollar, but so far it's been really stable at around 14. Of course imports aren't yet fully open (the corrupt DJAI system has been scrapped but Secretaría de Comercio still applies some controls), so that certainly influences the rate. As always in Argentina, time will tell.

Gaucho100K

I have to disagree. Calling La Nacion (or Clarin) the new Pagina 12 is stretching things quite a huge bit. Its clear that both papers have an editorial line that is a lot closer to the policies of Macri vs. those of the K Regime but that is plain common sense. I will further concede that in the first couple of months, these Papers may even cut the new Government some slack but in the end, the Press is the Press and pointing out mistakes in Government is not only what sells but its in the essence of what Journalists do, its in their blood.

La Nacion and Clarin may not be The Guardian, Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Asahi Shimbum or The Washington Post - but they still have a very long standing Editorial Tradition and track record as two of the most respected Newspapers published in the Spanish Language - that puts them in a league that is light years away from Pagina 12 or other lesser publications which in comparison are just about disposable.

JohnnyColombia

It's my first time in Argentina and I am sure I am going to contribute not much at all useful to this thread, but it seems in BsAs, swapping ARS for USD or swapping USD for ARS is a new national pastime. I went to Galerias Pacifico and there were two queues, one for USD to ARS and one for ARS to USD. So I just went to the back of the queue for ARS to USD and sold my USD to a bunch of Venezuelans.

I didn't have my passport with me and could not be bothered to either go back to the hotel and fetch it nor go and get back in the slow moving queue.

It puzzled me why the people in these queues don't commence a secondary market between themselves, split the spread, haggle a mid-market rate and save themselves some time.

cruisr

Just got back and they are still there, everywhere, yelling Cambio, Cambio, Cambio. I actually got the official rate according to Oanda and I only changed 20.00. The wierd thing was my hotel charges are all coming out with wildly different rates and I use CCs without a foreign transaction fee.

spainflyer

Now that the dollar clamp has gone to a better place, I think we should keep an eye on the official and gradual devaluation of the peso – which has moved from 13.3 to the USD to 15.6 in the three months since Macrí ended the two-tier exchange.

Of course this means that exports are boosted, imports become more expensive (in ARS, what an unfortunate acronym!) and that the economy begins functioning along global lines.

What I want to know is: how has this affected inflation? And more to the point, is a steak dinner better value today, in official ARS, than it was 3.5 months ago in blue dollars? Gaucho 100K, are you selling more wine abroad than you did under the clamp? If I were a soy bean grower I might be very happy today, no?

Official views accepted, anecdotes welcomed!

Buen viaje!

Eastbay1K

Inflation remains a huge issue. However, note that the official rate is back up to what the Blue was shortly before its demise (today, a bit more for the first time). I was surprised that it was in the 13s to start. I believed I received $15.4 in October, and 13 in January.

As far as soybeans or other crops, that is an entirely different calculation. Most simply described, the old government had very high export tariffs in place and the farmers were just hoarding their crops.

Marambio

There was a rise in prices in January after the devaluation. Since then most prices have remained somewhat stable. E.g.: the bottle of Familia Gascón the girlfriend and I share when we go to our next door restaurant for dinner went from 100 pesos in December to 120 in late January. No changes since then. A similar situation applies to my supermarket bill.

With the USD trading at 15.5/16 pesos, I'd say prices are similar, perhaps a bit cheaper than the old blue rate, although now of course you can pay with your card, etc.

I am talking about groceries, restaurants, etc. because imports remain controlled (the DJAI system has been scrapped, the new system is more transparent but there's no free flow of goods by any means) so it's hard to put a price on imports or on import-based products. Also you have to take into account that for 8 years the government messed with prices here, so it takes a while for the market to readapt to capitalism. The price of cars for instance fluctuates ridiculously between dealerships, and on Saturday at my supermarket it was 20 pesos cheaper to buy 4x 250g packs of La Morenita coffee than 1x 1kg.