Gov't will Introduce "Tourist Dollar"

[antipodean]

El Gobierno les permitirá a turistas extranjeros vender hasta USD 5.000 a tipo de cambio financiero

El turismo receptivo podrá cambiar sus divisas a precio MEP, que supera los $325. La ministra de Economía Silvina Batakis decidió flexibilizar algunos pagos de importaciones

www.infobae.com

"Receptive tourism will be able to exchange their currencies at the MEP price, which exceeds $325...
...Some initial measures emerged from the meeting held at the Palacio de Hacienda: they will allow non-residents to sell up to USD 5,000 at a financial exchange rate similar to the MEP price -currently at about $326- and they will facilitate some import payments ....
...The mechanics will be simple, they explain in the Government: tourists must present themselves with a passport or their document at exchange houses or banks -any entity that is under regulation of the Central Bank will be included- and they will be able to exchange up to USD 5,000 per person , or its equivalent in reais or another currency. The regulations determined by the BCRA will finish delimiting its scope...."

Let's watch and see how the details and timeline develop.
_____________________

Personally, I don't see this ending well and just another economic distortion and inflationary time bomb in the making to get some urgently needed dollars that will be pissed away from one day to the next.

Using a slightly exaggerated example, a hotel or tourist operator thinks in dollars - according to how much they think their customers will pay. For example, if a hotel that primarily targets foreign guests expects US$200 a night today, it receives ARS 27.400 which is the price the foreigner can legally pay and also the price a local with pesos will pay and end up in the hotels bank account. Now the hotel will be inclined to think that US$200 should be ARS 65.200 (or more to the point, "US$475") since there is almost no excuse that their primary targets cannot legally pay this amount. And of course, it is not just hotels who will behave this way...

Most importantly, given it is a cash based exchange rate, I see it as being prone to easy abuse which has broader economic ramifications - especially now that migraciones does not stamp your passport. People with foreign documents can be used as "mules" to legally change/ launder dollars in "exchange" for some bogus "product" or "service", which means more cheap pesos floating around and ultimately higher inflation for everyone, pushing most "luxuries" out of reach of anyone without access to hard currency.

 

[Quilombo]

Ks Until Today: "The Dollar Blue is a small, unimportant market; it's also illegal, yet unimportant because it's small. $1 USD = $136 pesos."

BCRA this week: Only 16% of of the $1.4 Billion USD spent on inbound tourism ever reaches the BCRA in the form of dollars

Ks Today: "Hmmm, upon further inspection, $1 USD is really worth $326 pesos, but only tourists can access this. Argentines with dollars will get $200 pesos less still."

An exchange rate split resolves one way, and one way only: via unification of all the rates, via a devaluation. If not today, next week, month, or year, si o si. Isabel Perón tried this in 1975 with Celestino Rodrigo, and it was a complete failure then too.

 

[americas]

Ks Until Today: "The Dollar Blue is a small, unimportant market; it's also illegal, yet unimportant because it's small. $1 USD = $136 pesos."

BCRA this week: Only 16% of of the $1.4 Billion USD spent on inbound tourism ever reaches the BCRA in the form of dollars

Ks Today: "Hmmm, upon further inspection, $1 USD is really worth $326 pesos, but only tourists can access this. Argentines with dollars will get $200 pesos less still."

An exchange rate split resolves one way, and one way only: via unification of all the rates, via a devaluation. If not today, next week, month, or year, si o si. Isabel Perón tried this in 1975 with Celestino Rodrigo, and it was a complete failure then too.

I'm surprised that the percentage is only 16% (curious how they derived that metric, too...). I'm curious what the tourism market looks like (eg. where people come from and where they go). My assumption would be that the majority of tourists from the USA, Europe would just use their credit cards without knowing better or feeling comfortable with cash exchange.

It looks like tourists from USA, Canada, and Europe account for 26% of tourists here, but that doesn't directly translate to dollars spent: https://www.casarosada.gob.ar/inter...-foreign-tourism-in-argentina-hits-new-record

 

[Rich One]

Opens a new market segment, concierges, cuevas and arbolitos will offer 24/7 same rate or higher r than the MEP, nearby around the corner.

No records, no lines as expected at Official Exchange places, working only week days, during banking hours..?

 

[jblaze5779]

I was thinking this was going to result in easy abuse by locals (and probably expats).

This is only pressing the gas pedal to the end of this spiral.

 

[jblaze5779]

It looks like tourists from USA, Canada, and Europe account for 26% of tourists here, but that doesn't directly translate to dollars spent: https://www.casarosada.gob.ar/inter...-foreign-tourism-in-argentina-hits-new-record

I think it's people booking services and rentals from abroad before they arrive.

 

[jblaze5779]

So you have to a bank to get these dollars.... you can only change by standing in some long line.... During banking hours...

Does this gov know that tourists with dollars haven't been to a bank in decades? I would still sell my dollars to the hotel or whoever else makes it the most convenient.

 

[jblaze5779]

You still have to bring cash with you... Why? Something stinks.

 

[antipodean]

You still have to bring cash with you... Why? Something stinks.

A deliberate loophole for Argentines who have dollars under the mattress perhaps… the treasury needs feeding so will gladly turn a blind eye to whether or not the person changing at the bank is a genuine tourist or just faking an accent.

 

[antipodean]

Cómo funcionará el nuevo dólar turista y qué trámites tendrán que hacer los extranjeros

Los bancos o casas de cambio pedirán al visitante una declaración jurada. El límite de 5 mil dólares será en efectivo, por persona y mensual. Las entidades tendrán dos días desde que reciben las divisas para hacer la operación de dólar MEP

www.infobae.com

Early details of what you will need to change dollars for pesos as a tourist at the MEP rate:

• Foreign cash
• Foreign ID (passport or Mercosur ID)
• Be checked against an online money laundering registry to literally make sure you are not a Hezbollah or financing terrorism
• A DDJJ to say that "yes I am a tourist who is resident abroad" and "I have not changed more than US$5000 in the last 30 days at any/ all entities where exchange is available"

In short the it looks like the government will care more about if you are funding ISIS in Libya rather than if you are actually a tourist or not.