Why does argentina support two currencies?

Cangurito

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i must admit to being completely clueless on the double currency standard, the use of pesos and us$ in argentina. Properties are sold in dollars, title deeds quote dollars and people buy and sell dollars everywhere. Other than argentines being nervous about holding pesos, is there a legal or government policy for this?
 
Cangurito said:
i must admit to being completely clueless on the double currency standard, the use of pesos and us$ in argentina. Properties are sold in dollars, title deeds quote dollars and people buy and sell dollars everywhere. Other than argentines being nervous about holding pesos, is there a legal or government policy for this?

Not at this time.

But there is an historical (if not hysterical) relationship.
 
Cangurito said:
i must admit to being completely clueless on the double currency standard, the use of pesos and us$ in argentina. Properties are sold in dollars, title deeds quote dollars and people buy and sell dollars everywhere. Other than argentines being nervous about holding pesos, is there a legal or government policy for this?


it's a common practice in many countries where the local currency is not considered to be stable due to government policies, inflation, fiscal policy...etc. a currency's value can change rapidly depending upon the circumstances.

hence, the reason to conduct business in what is considered to be a stable currency i.e. the dollar.

this will more than likely change in the near to long term however as the destruction of the dollar continues. those thinking they are "safe" holding dollars will be in for a surprise as a devaluation seems inevitable now.

in short, buy gold and silver. they are the best ways of protecting yourself from inflation.
 
In Panama they have a fictional currency called Cristobales (or is it Colones) but they use US dollars!

Gold and silver,, yeah, but not the ultimate answer, has caused more problems than solutions for many people I knew. Careful of the obsessed on this forum.
 
Argentina has a long history of currency instability. Simple as that. Only a fool saves large sums in pesos. At the time of the crisis the smart people had their savings in dollars, euros or pounds sterling in banks or financial instiututions outside Argentina. The amazing thing is that despite all the instability there were so many people who left money in local banks - and then got scalped when dollar accounts were changed to highly devalued pesos.
 
sergio said:
Argentina has a long history of currency instability. Simple as that. Only a fool saves large sums in pesos. At the time of the crisis the smart people had their savings in dollars, euros or pounds sterling in banks or financial instiututions outside Argentina. The amazing thing is that despite all the instability there were so many people who left money in local banks - and then got scalped when dollar accounts were changed to highly devalued pesos.

Some "smart people" in Argentina also had their "savings" in real estate.
 
mendozanow said:
In Panama they have a fictional currency called Cristobales (or is it Colones) but they use US dollars!

Gold and silver,, yeah, but not the ultimate answer, has caused more problems than solutions for many people I knew. Careful of the obsessed on this forum.

So what is the ultimate answer in your opinion?
 
mendozanow said:
In Panama they have a fictional currency called Cristobales (or is it Colones) but they use US dollars!

Gold and silver,, yeah, but not the ultimate answer, has caused more problems than solutions for many people I knew. Careful of the obsessed on this forum.


mendozanow what other solutions do you suggest?

also, i'd be curious to know what problems occurred with the other people that you know.
 
Keep your savings in gold & silver ? Now I've really read it all.

Holding a small amount of savings in a variety of currencies is a decent idea as a disaster contingency but really, not necessary for most. That would include gold & silver, but also USD, CAD, Euros. But keeping it all in gold & silver as a savings strategy is only a slight improvement over keeping cash stuffed into a mattress.

That said, gold funds are actually very interesting as investments, IMO.
 
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