Blue dollar
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Blue dollar (dólar blue), parallel dollar (dólar paralelo) or black dollar (dólar negro) are euphemisms that represent US dollars illegally acquired on the black market in Argentina .
term
The term blue dollar has been used in Argentina since 2011, when the Argentine Federal Revenue Office (AFIP) and the Argentine Central Bank (BCRA) introduced restrictions on foreign currency purchases under the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner . The adjective blue comes from English and is used in connection with shady, dark businesses. According to some newspapers, it is used in relation to the blue dollar because the transactions with this currency are made on the black market and are against the regulations of the AFIP .
history
In 2011, high demand for US dollars from the Argentine population caused the central bank's foreign exchange reserves to decline sharply , from an estimated US $ 52 billion to US $ 46.3 billion. That year, capital flight (the creation of foreign assets, that is, wealth that remains outside the financial system or has been transferred abroad) topped the $ 21.5 billion mark, almost surpassing the 2008 record when the Subprime bubble in the US about $ 23 billion outflowed from the Argentine financial system . In 2012, according to the Argentine Central Bank, capital flight fell to 4 billion due to restrictions on capital exports.
Initially, the restrictions were that people who wanted to buy dollars (or other currencies) had to file an account of their income by registering with the AFIP, the tax authority of Argentina. It was believed that this would prevent money laundering and tax crimes . Another reason for the restriction was the inflation rate in the country. The government's intention was to prevent an abrupt depreciation of the peso in relation to the dollar. This should help in the short term to maintain the competitiveness that the economy loses in the event of inflation. At the same time, however, the pressure to raise prices later increased.
Restrictions on buying dollars were later relaxed. On July 5, 2012, the Central Bank of Argentina banned the purchase of US dollars and other foreign currencies for savings purposes indefinitely in Regulation 5318 A, in accordance with the opinion of the newspaper El Cronista . As of January 27, 2014, private individuals whose income the AFIP was informed of could again purchase foreign currencies to save at banks and exchange offices - but only to the value of a maximum of 20% of their monthly income. The requirement for access to the foreign currency sales system is that one earns at least the sum of two minimum wages . On May 7, 2013, the dollar hit the record rate of 10.47 pesos on the parallel market, while the same value on the official market was 5.22. Thus, the difference between the two exchange rates reached 100.6%, the highest value since the introduction of currency controls in October 2011. The mentioned difference is commonly referred to as brecha cambiaria (“exchange rate gap”) in Argentina . In April 2015, one US dollar was trading at 12.42 pesos on the parallel market and 8.86 pesos on the official market. The gap between the official and the parallel course was only 40.2%.
On December 17, 2015, President Mauricio Macri , who was elected in October, put an end to restrictions on buying foreign currencies. This decision caused the peso to devalue by almost 40% against the US dollar: the exchange rate rose from 9.83 to 13.95 within 24 hours.
Individual evidence
- ^ Currency Crisis in Argentina - Money and the Black Market , Süddeutsche Zeitung, January 28, 2014