Leave Money In An Argentine Bank?

[DenizK]

I have been following this forum and have learned quite a lot and thanks to people who share their experiences and advice. Really useful!

I reside in BA and have a few thousand USD in my USD account at an Argentine branch of a reputable international bank. The thing is that I will be travelling for a few months outside of Argentina and am concerned about leaving the money at the bank. I can't take it with me as it is too risky too. What would you recommend: rent a safe at the bank and keep the money there (which would cost about 300 usd for six months) or leave it in the account and hope that Argentine banking/currency policies will not affect me upon my return in a few months? Thanks in advance for all the advice!

 

[nlaruccia]

I don't think the government is planning a corralito in the next few months. Does anyone else think so? Many people, Argentines included, have a dollar bank account. The only problem is that you won't be able to access the funds while traveling abroad.

 

[Jaredberryman]

I wouldn't dare leave it there. If you need to put it into a bank, put it into a bank in Uruguay. There's no telling what might happen over the coming months.

 

[thorsten]

Its a matter of how much money it is, i.e., is paying the 300$ rental fee worth as an "insurance". It's more likely that Argentina goes into another default in the next 5 years than it does not. Will it happen in the next 6 month? Probably not, but if its a significant amount, I'd not leave it in an Argentine bank (even if its a branch of like HSBC). Generally, you might consider using a bank account in a foreign country in general if you don't need to access it regularly here.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I asked my dog if it was ok if I left a steak on the table overnight. He wagged his tail.

Personally, I would not leave USD in a bank here. But, that's just me.

 

[Jaredberryman]

The inhabitants of this country think their money or personal savings are safer in their house than in the bank. I'm not kidding. Now, what lesson should we glean from that as expats who don't fully 100 percent understand this country?

 

[sleslie23]

The inhabitants of this country think their money or personal savings are safer in their house than in the bank. I'm not kidding. Now, what lesson should we glean from that as expats who don't fully 100 percent understand this country?

That's a good rule of thumb for any expat wondering what to do. Ask yourself: "What would an Argentine do?"

Leave money in any bank: No.
Pay rent in dollars: No.
Order a pizza de 4 quesos *with* panceta: Definitely no!

That said, I might be willing to leave a steak in the bank. But only for a few days.

 

[Matiasba]

Order a pizza de 4 quesos *with* panceta: Definitely no!

Hahaha funny!

 

[Inferno.]

I don't think the government is planning a corralito in the next few months. Does anyone else think so? Many people, Argentines included, have a dollar bank account. The only problem is that you won't be able to access the funds while traveling abroad.

No one thought there was going to be a corralito.. or a pesification of USD into ARS.. or a exchange currency control. Those measures never had a warning. I agree with you, it doesn't seems the country is going to try to go down that path, but giving the history in the last decade, I wouldn't bet my money on things to stay calm.

I would take my chances and take the money with me. He didn't say where he was going to travel, but if he doesn't want to have the money with him, he could open a new bank account in the country where he is going and deposit the money there. Then when he is ready to come back, he could withdrawn everything and close the account.

 

[syngirl]

I don't think the government is planning a corralito in the next few months. Does anyone else think so? Many people, Argentines included, have a dollar bank account. The only problem is that you won't be able to access the funds while traveling abroad.

If you're in dire straits you don't announce a corralito beforehand, otherwise it loses it's efficacy. If Cristina came out and said "As of tomorrow at noon Argentines will only be allowed to withdraw 300 pesos from their bank accounts per day and all USD holdings will be converted at official rate" by tomorrow at noon everyone who possibly ould would go and withdraw their money.

So while I doubt that there will be a corralito, I hope no one would take that advice as gold. A lot of people have suggested that opening up the purchase of dollars is to let the cronies get rid of their pesos before the govt shuts it down again. Kicillof et alia are making it up as they go along if you ask me -- even they don't know what their next move will be.

You don't say how much money it is but I get the feeling not a lot if you don't want to pay the 300 bucks for the insurance. If your trip open ended? If you don't have a definite date of return take that into consideration -- what if you ended up abroad for a year, would you be ok with that money being in an account here? At the end of the day, you just have to trust your gut and decide which gamble you're willing to take.