Dollar Up

[splaying]

1 USD =20.1450ARS
US Dollar1 USD = 20.1450 ARS
↔
Argentine Peso1 ARS = 0.0496401 USD

March 28, 2018

 

[semigoodlookin]

I hear people say the rate increases are bad for expats as a blanket statement. I earn in dollars and have only seen benefits from the escalating dollar over the last few months. Am I missing something why this is bad for me?

 

[jeff1234]

I hear people say the rate increases are bad for expats as a blanket statement. I earn in dollars and have only seen benefits from the escalating dollar over the last few months. Am I missing something why this is bad for me?

I haven't seen the benefits. As we've discussed before, prices seem to rise faster than the peso is sinking.

 

[on the brink]

Here, when the peso goes down inflation shoots up faster than the dollar. No way to win without Cristina's Blue rates. In those happy times I actually made money by going to the doctor: paid in pesos at the Blue rate, and was reinbursed in the US at the official rate.

 

[julian63]

I hear people say the rate increases are bad for expats as a blanket statement. I earn in dollars and have only seen benefits from the escalating dollar over the last few months. Am I missing something why this is bad for me?

Yes, you are missing something. It seems you are misinterpreting what people are saying about the benefits of an escalating USD exchange rate. Obviously no one who earns/lives on USD would think that bad. That is self-evident.
Moreover, the USD exchange rate may have increased in sync with the rate of inflation for the "last few months" that is your limited experience. However, if one measures the exchange rate against inflation over the last few "years" then it is quite another story. The rate of inflation has far outpaced the increase in the USD exchange rate. That is to say, the purchasing power of the USD has decreased dramatically over the past few years.

 

[garryl]

Time to leave Argentina.

 

[Ceviche]

Time to leave Argentina.

you left when u sold yr apartment. we are v happy here.

 

[garryl]

you left when u sold yr apartment. we are v happy here.

Good to know

 

[garryl]

For the past few years, dollar earners have probably lost 30%-50% of the buying power because of the flat exchange rate and inflation. Real estate value and rent shot up, that makes it harder for renting. I am happy in southern Europe now, it's like 2004 Argentina, difficult for locals but dollar/euro goes a long way. Would love return to BsAs, maybe as an Airbnb renter, Argentina is always special.

 

[julian63]

For the past few years, dollar earners have probably lost 30%-50% of the buying power because of the flat exchange rate and inflation. Real estate value and rent shot up, that makes it harder for renting. I am happy in southern Europe now, it's like 2004 Argentina, difficult for locals but dollar/euro goes a long way. Would love return to BsAs, maybe as an Airbnb renter, Argentina is always special.

You are correct - USD earners have probably lost 30-50% of their buying power over the last few years and a lot more than that over the last 10 - 15 years. However, what made Buenos Aires (not Argentina) "special" was that the cost of living was so very cheap if one had USD. Bs As was and continues to be a cosmopolitan metropolis with fine restaurants, medical services, arts and entertainment venues and a well educated populace. Until a number of years ago, one could live quite well in Bs As and environs on less USD than almost any other equally sophisticated city in the world - that is exactly what made Bs As "special."
After all, one could overlook frequent power outages, broken sidewalks dotted with dog droppings, inconsiderate drivers, strikes and corruption, and the annoyingly inflated egos of the locals as long as one could dine out for a small fraction of what it would cost in a US city and generally live higher on the hog for a lot less than anywhere else. Now that the cost of living has increased to close to that of other international cities, there is nothing very special about Bs As except its unique association with tango, steak and futbol.
It's still an okay place to spend some time as long as you can leave whenever you want, but special? Not so much.