The so-called “blue dollar” rose 4 pesos in the parallel market, to a new maximum of 287 pesos per unit and surpassed the previous mark of 283. The price of the dollar in the informal market of Argentina, to which citizens go due to the strong restrictions on the purchase of dollars in official channels, broke a new record this Thursday, one day after the Government announced an increase in withholdings on transactions with the US currency abroad.
The so-called “blue dollar” rose 4 pesos on the parallel market this Thursday, to a new maximum of 287 pesos per unit, surpassing the previous mark of 283 registered this same Wednesday. Since the resignation of Martin Guzman as Minister of Economy on July 2 and his replacement by Silvina Batakis two days later, the US currency has accumulated a rise of 20% in the informal circuit.
In the state-owned Banco Nacion, where operations are restricted to 200 dollars per month per person and under certain conditions- the price of the dollar remained unchanged this Thursday (135 pesos for sale to the public), which shows an increase of 3, 9% since Guzman’s resignation. With these values, the gap between the official price and the “blue dollar” is 112.6%.
Those known as “financial dollars” have also experienced a considerable rise since the new Minister of Economy took office: the dollar “counted with liquidation” advanced 17.3% in this time, to 296.45 pesos per unit, while the “stock dollar” or “MEP dollar” grew another 14.8%, to the 284.74 pesos. Presidential spokeswoman and Gabriela Cerruti are downplayed the increase in the informal dollar, considering that it is a “very marginal market.”
“The blue dollar does not represent the market, it does not represent the economy, it is a marginal market that what it does is generate an environment of expectations and uncertainty, because it is driven by those who want that to be generated,” Cerruti said Thursday in a Press conference. All in all, the instability around the value of the US currency, added to the restrictions on access to dollars to pay for imports in the official foreign exchange market, have increased uncertainty among some merchants and businessmen, who choose not to sell their products or raise prices.
RESTRICTIONS ON THE FOREIGN DOLLAR
The highest price of the “blue dollar” occurs a day after the national government, through the Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP), announced an increase in restrictions on the use of dollars abroad, in a context marked by the scarcity of foreign exchange suffered by the country. Foreign operations will now have a 45% surcharge on account of income and personal property taxes (previously it was 35%), while the PAIS Tax remains unchanged (30%).
The South American country maintains various limitations on the purchase of dollars (“exchange stock”), such as a cap of 200 dollars per month that can be purchased in the formal foreign exchange market or the impossibility of financing trips abroad in installments. In that sense, the presidential spokeswoman denied that the increase from 35 to 45% on purchases abroad is equivalent to a tax increase.
There is no increase in taxes, nor any stocks, the only thing there is is a greater perception of advance earnings, which later when earnings or personal assets are paid, is returned. The PAIS tax did not change and the savings dollar did not receive any modification type.
