Despite the various restrictions that the Government has been implementing in recent months to stop the bleeding of dollars from the Central Bank’s reserves, the truth is that the desire of Argentines to become dollarized continues in force. So much so, that the latest official report on the evolution of the exchange market reports a new escalation in the demand for savings dollars.
Specifically, last December, human persons acquired a net sum of 127 million dollars in banks. This is a notable rebound from the $110 million in November and even the $117 million in October.
Despite the new rise in demand, purchases of savings dollars are still below the level of September ($191 million) and August ($251 million). It must be taken into account that in the middle of the ninth month of 2022 the decision of the Government to remove the possibility of buy dollar savings to those who maintain the subsidies to the rates of public services, which resulted in a significant drop in foreign currency purchases in banks.
Regarding the number of people who operated in December, 662,000 individuals bought ticketswhile some 18,000 sold, thus resulting in purchases and sales per capita of US$198 and US$220, respectively.
Why is the demand for savings dollars picking up now?
Currently, the savings dollar can be bought in banks, with a quota of US$200 for each qualified person, at a price that is below $320. Thus, it is a very convenient value compared to the $352 of the MEP dollar or the $386 of the blue.
It is because of this gap that the reason that the demand for savings dollars had sunk – energy subsidies – begins to be left aside by many. In fact, A report from the Ministry of Energy released this month revealed that 444,000 people have already requested the reduction of state aid for the payment of electricity and gas rates. They are clearly, it is, Argentines who prefer to pay more expensive services to be able to access a cheaper dollar.
Dollar card: consumption is repressed
On the side of credit cards, the Central Bank details that there is a phenomenon of retraction of consumption in dollars. In December, the demand to cover these expenses was US$277 milliona slight drop compared to US$279 million in November, but somewhat more pronounced compared to US$327 million in October.
Cards abroad are more expensive and many Argentines now prefer to carry tickets.
“The observed reduction in card expenses occurred in the context of the entry into force of General Resolution 5270/2022 established by the AFIP, which established that as of October 12, all monthly consumption with card that exceeds US$300 have to pay a surcharge of 25% extra on the official price of the dollar, on account of the Personal Assets tax,” explained the BCRA.
In other words, the arrival of the dollar card “Qatar” (which today trades at $386) made Argentines prefer to get tickets to pay their expenses abroad in cash. This practice, several market analysts point out, is one of the drivers behind the rise in the blue dollar in recent weeks.
BCRA dollars: how many left for travel and card?
On the other hand, net expenses for trips, tickets and other payments with card totaled the US$292 million. In this way, there was a significant setback compared to the US$470 million in November.
“It must be remembered that in the transfers made abroad to cancel the balances with the international card issuing companies registered within this account, both the consumptions made for trips abroad and non-face-to-face purchases from foreign suppliers are included. “, indicated the BCRA.
Likewise, the Central report details that, in the total of the year 2022, the services account -which includes trips and tickets- registered an accumulated deficit of US$10,106 millionwhich represents an increase of 127% compared to the accumulated figure of last year, mainly driven by the growth of gross expenses for “Travel, tickets and other card payments” and, to a lesser extent, “Freight and insurance” in a context of higher prices for the international transport of goods.
How much dollars go for imports
Another relevant fact that emerges from the BCRA exchange market report is that the payments of imports of goods through the exchange market totaled US$4,566 million in December, 20% below the same month of the previous year. The figure also represents a drop from the US$5.56 billion in November.
Stocks: imports demanded fewer dollars in December.
19% of the total import payments for goods in the month of December corresponded to the “Chemical, Rubber and Plastic Industry” sector, followed by payments from the “Energy” sector, representing 15% of the total import payments for the month and the “Automotive Industry” sector with 13%. The sector with the greatest dynamism was “Energy”, with a year-on-year increase of 56%.
Who can not access the savings dollar?
Currently, there are very few people who can buy the 200 dollars “savings” through banks or financial institutions, so it is easier to mention who can’t access this exchange rate:
- Beneficiaries of energy and water subsidies.
- Beneficiaries of social plans or ANSES programs such as the Universal Child Allowance.
- People without declared income or consistent, so it includes both people who do not have a job or work informally/black.
- Co-owners of bank accounts.
- Who is refinanced some balance of the credit card in the last 12 months.
- Monotributistas what did they ask 0 rate loans.
- The people who accessed the exchange rate “MEP”.
- The holders of UVA credits who benefited from rate freeze during the pandemic.
- The owners of small and medium-sized companies that have agreed to loans at preferential rates.
- People who benefited from “revenue booster”
- Persons who have operated Argentine Deposit Certificates, better known as cedears, cryptocurrencies or negotiable obligations in the last 90 days. In case of accessing saving dollar, access to said assets is prevented for 90 days after the last purchase of the savings dollar.
In addition, those people who have made dollar expenses with Credit or debit card, except for those cases in which the Dollars of the account or the statement is paid in dollars.
