2 ms·
Doesn't the dólar MEP being higher than the dólar blue imply that Argentina has a severe US dollar shortage, severe enough to authorize Argentinean banks to pay
by TMWNN 4y ago
Doesn't the dólar MEP being higher than the dólar blue imply that Argentina has a severe US dollar shortage, severe enough to authorize Argentinean banks to pay pretty much whatever tourists bringing them to the country demand in exchange?
Also, as a non-Argentinean, I have to confess that I hadn't considered the impact of an artificially strong dólar oficial on the country's exports. Surely beef and other Argentinean exports aren't priced at the official exchange rate on world markets? But I don't see how they couldn't be, either.
- kragen 4y agoYes, but also it means they don't want the tourists to feed the "blue" markets. Yes, Argentine exports (mostly direct farm products like soy and corn now rather than beef) are made artificially more expensive by the perverse dollar policy. Also, on top of the 59% haircut from the fraudulent exchange rate, there's a 33% "retención" applied to agricultural products, so the farmers only get 21% of the international price of the exported grain. The fraudulent exchange rate also subsidizes (legal) imports, making it impossible for most Argentine industry to compete even in the domestic market with overseas imports.