$200 Limit Now Includes Card Payments

[camberiu]

Another scenario but even harder to see, would be a shift towards liberalisation, but this could also be dangerous if improvised and rushed as could end up with a huge chunk of the Argentines now suffering from poverty trapped in an irreversible manner, making the country more akin to a typical Latin American country where while open, is still poor and for all intensive purposes it is not somewhere most people would choose to be due to the problems that go with that.

Outside of the Expat Buenos Aires bubble, Argentina is not that different from most Latin American countries. It is already dirt poor, hopelessly lawless and with little to no infrastructure. Sure, if you live and stay in Palermo, Belgrano, Puerto Madero and Recoleta and you never leave, you get the impression that Argentina is some European Mediterranean country that almost made it. But get out of that bubble and you have full unadulterated Latin America, with all its horrors, in your face.

This is the real Argentina

 

[Dougie]

Look for the China card: credit facility, infrastructure project, energy/mining concessions, and sinovac vaccine.

All should have exit strategy. I do not believe in panic-driven decisions; however, an exit strategy is the best way to avoid panic-drive decisions.

Already happening - Huawei 5G coming soon. Currency swaps agreed upon. To be fair, they are testing the western vaccines in addition to the Chinese one.

Will be interesting to see what happens. I believe the US has offered to pay for the development of Brazil's 5G network if they ditch Huawei.

 

[camberiu]

 

[antipodean]

Outside of the Expat Buenos Aires bubble, Argentina is not that different from most Latin American countries. It is already dirt poor, hopelessly lawless and with little to no infrastructure. Sure, if you live and stay in Palermo, Belgrano, Puerto Madero and Recoleta and you never leave, you get the impression that Argentina is some European Mediterranean country that almost made it. But get out of that bubble and you have full unadulterated Latin America, with all its horrors, in your face.

This is the real Argentina

I am not sure I agree with that.
The worst place I have been outside of GBA are some cities and towns in Jujuy province and villas around Rosario.
Most provincial towns are actually fairly well developed in comparison to BA or provincial capitals even in the province of Salta for example, and many arguably have better life quality, and are much safer, than many parts of BA - unlike say, Peru where almost all of interior cities are pretty miserable places and most people don't even have refrigeration and you are just as likely to be robbed by the police as a motochorro.

If you go to the south Ushuaia, El Calafate, Rio Gallegos, Trelew etc. the cities appear even better off or at least comparable to cities in the southern part of Chile, with very few if any villas.

Argentina could still be much worse.

 

[Renzi]

Outside of the Expat Buenos Aires bubble, Argentina is not that different from most Latin American countries. It is already dirt poor, hopelessly lawless and with little to no infrastructure. Sure, if you live and stay in Palermo, Belgrano, Puerto Madero and Recoleta and you never leave, you get the impression that Argentina is some European Mediterranean country that almost made it. But get out of that bubble and you have full unadulterated Latin America, with all its horrors, in your face.

This is the real Argentina

I also have to disagree with this. I've lived in Mexico City, Bogotá, Medellin, Lima (here I was a volunteer with an NGO in Callao), and Santiago, and there's no comparison with how clean, organized, and generally safe BA is. While I wouldn't compare Argentina with a "European Mediterranean country," since you mentioned it, there are places there like Naples, that are almost as poor and lawless as anywhere in Latin America.

Going by actual numbers, like the Human Development Index (HDI), the Cono Sur in general ranks much higher than the rest of Latin America. Argentina is almost 30 places higher than Mexico and Brazil who have much stronger economies. BA also has the lowest homicide rate out of every major Latin American city.

 

[wjacobs]

I recently bought some stuff this morning at a US grocery store with my Argentinian debit card. It charged me for the impuesto PAIS as usual, but still doesn't seem to be adding on the recently declared 35% extra. Is that just because Santander has not yet implemented the additional tax, and they will eventually pull it out of my account? Or will I get a bill in the mail from AFIP? Or as someone who is not currently earning any income in Argentina, does the 35% not even apply to me? Just wondering how this works, and if I can keep buying supplies here in the US at 75 cents on the dollar.

 

[lunar]

Is that just because Santander has not yet implemented the additional tax, and they will eventually pull it out of my account?

Has Santander sent you an email explaining the changes? My bank says that 35% in presumed taxes will be withheld next month following the transaction.

 

[wjacobs]

Has Santander sent you an email explaining the changes? My bank says that 35% in presumed taxes will be withheld next month following the transaction.

Have not heard a peep from them. When the impuesto PAIS happened back some time ago, they came out with an announcement immediately. They also started deducting taxes immediately. That's why it's a bit odd.

 

[Moe]

I recently bought some stuff this morning at a US grocery store with my Argentinian debit card. Or as someone who is not currently earning any income in Argentina, does the 35% not even apply to me? Just wondering how this works, and if I can keep buying supplies here in the US at 75 cents on the dollar.

Can you explain how is it EVER advantageous to use an Argentinian debit card in the USA? Am I missing something?

 

[wjacobs]

Can you explain how is it EVER advantageous to use an Argentinian debit card in the USA? Am I missing something?

When politicians artificially mess with the value of the peso, that's when. To make math simple, let's take the situation as it was a week ago. Official dollar at 80+30% tax=100. Blue at 130. I would send a dollar to Argentina via Western Union or Bitcoin (I prefer the latter). After fees, approx 126 pesos arrive in my Santander account. I go to the store and buy $1 worth of stuff, and it only charges 100 pesos. I have 26 pesos left; that's "free" money.