How do you get dollars in BA?

[Davidglen77]

Unfortunately, the dollar situation being the way it is, people are just going to have to conform because it's way too easy to just avoid Argentina altogether as a tourist spot. I have a travel agent friend in Miami who has told me that within the past few months, when people ask about travel to south America, they ask for itineraries WITHOUT Argentina included. People are asking for Brazil, Peru and Chile if they are interested in the southern cone. There is just too much negative publicity about this country, and what a shame, once again, what could be booming is getting left in the dark because of bad politics. Hopefully one day it changes long term.

 

[Rich One]

Right, but neither are the ex pats, who, unless they have already arrived in the country with loads of pesos on them (highly unlikely) will most likely be funding said rent payment by going to the ATM-- often times in numerous occasions since the daily limit
In Argentina is absurd--- and the ATM is charging them the "official" rate.

Quien tiene mas razon? Usually IMO it's the client (tenant) who is being naively disadvantaged most and should be the one accommodated .

YanquiG.... I extract money from the ATM from my US debit card, after deducting fees et. al. the effective rate is 4.26 . What ATM do you Use?

 

[PhilipDT]

what service do you use to do that? xoom?

No. Just a normal bank to bank wire transfer. There's a small international wire fee (I think 17usd). The reason most apartment owners won't let you do that is because theyre not paying taxes on your rent payments.

 

[botanico]

I rarely post on this forum - way too many negative people for my taste! But I feel I must say something about this peso/dollar debate that no-one seems to be looking at.
As I understand it, Argentina runs a 'Managed Floating Rate' system of foreign exchange. That is, the central bank intervenes in the free exchange market to keep the price of pesos low. They do this by selling dollars from their foreign exchange reserves. The more market pressure to drive up the exchange rate, the more dollars it must sell. This depletes the country's already low reserves. Why do they do this? So that when they need to buy large amounts of dollars, most strikingly for the Boden 2012 bond repayment on August 3, they will not have to spend so many pesos to repay the bond.
So the black market runs counter to the best interest of the country, since it creates pressure in the exchange market, costs the central bank dollars, and increases the cost to Argentina of repaying its bonds, improving its international credit position and rejoining the international bond market. All these things are essential for Argentina to progress and remove the stigma of the default.
Ever black or blue market dollar bought by tourist or expats makes this situation worse. Do any of you care about the future of Argentina? Do you want to see improvements, more imports, fewer currency restrictions, less inflation? It seems from many posts that you do, since these are the things you complain about. So tell me this, why are you letting greedy self-interest get in the way? Is it really true that you are all so poor that you cannot afford 1 less peso for your dollar? Instead of blaming Christina and the 'politics of Argentina' for all the problems, maybe you should see your own actions as part of the problem.

 

[citygirl]

Ever black or blue market dollar bought by tourist or expats makes this situation worse. Do any of you care about the future of Argentina? Do you want to see improvements, more imports, fewer currency restrictions, less inflation? It seems from many posts that you do, since these are the things you complain about. So tell me this, why are you letting greedy self-interest get in the way? Is it really true that you are all so poor that you cannot afford 1 less peso for your dollar? Instead of blaming Christina and the 'politics of Argentina' for all the problems, maybe you should see your own actions as part of the problem.

To paraphrase from another thread - the stupid is strong in this thread. I don't think you can blame people, let alone the small percentage of expats exchanging dollars for the basic economic problems here. The blue market wouldn't exist if not for the short-sighted, self-serving and ultimately futile economic policies instituted by this government.

But sure, why not blame someone else instead of looking at the problem objectively and clearly and assigning blame where blame is due.

 

[Iznogud]

...That is, the central bank intervenes in the free exchange market to keep the price of pesos low.

And you are sure about that, uh?

I think you intended to write the price of the dollar low. The dollar has been artificially kept low for years now.

Another thing that seems to result from your post is that the Government is Good and the people are Bad.

Blaming expats and foreigners for trying to make the best of their resources is plain silly and to consider that that has a visible effect on the local economy is even sillier, unless you take into account that current policies are depraving the country of much welcomed foreign visitors and investors and their influx of hard currency. That indeed is noticeable.

The State is non productive. If people look for other ways to maximize the monetary results of their work is probably not because they have no social conscience, but likely that they do not approve the ways the Powers that Be manage the funds they already collected. Or want to spare their funds value of the effects of certain current policies. Just a thought.

 

[botanico]

Citygirl, yes, it is easy to blame others - like exploitive landlords as you do in one of your earlier posts on this thread.
I would love to hear your objective assessment of the problem. What economic problems are you referring to that you think are short-sighted and self-serving? What would you do instead?

Isnogud, I did mean dollar in the way you are looking at it. And yes, the central bank has been doing this for years, but I don't see why time is relevant.
I wouldn't care to speculate without research on the true impact of the blue market, but all countries try hard to stamp them out, so they likely have an effect on national economies. Try running a currency black market in Times Square and see how long you last.
I won't bother with the 'Ron Paul' asides!

 

[citygirl]

Eh?? I haven't blamed any landlords on this thread or others - perhaps you have me confused with someone else.

As to what economic problems? Really? I won't post the million word post it would take me to outline and address but lets just say I have yet to see a well-thought economic plan here and IMO, the government's actions tend to be knee-jerk and short-sighted and in the end, cause more problems than they solve. Addtionally, this gov't has been spending money like a drunken sailor on a weekend R*R pass without investing a penny in infastructure or diversification of the economy or education or any of the other areas that are in dire need of support. As a result, despite having gone through years of having huge surpluses, the country in many ways is worse than it was in 2001. And I can hardly imagine where it will be after the crash coming.

But really, we should blame the expats

 

[solerboy]

Try running a currency black market in Times Square and see how long you last.

Do they have currency restrictions in The United States ?

 

[botanico]

Do they have currency restrictions in The United States ?

I thought at first your were simply being ironic, but in case your not I would refer you to the US commodities futures trading commission, which outlines nicely the regulations regarding foreign currency trading, involving registration and $20 million minimum capital. (sorry I can't post the link for you - blocked by the forum rules).