From yesterday at 9:00 p.m. The tourist dollar modality is available in Argentina for non-resident foreigners who pay for their consumption with Visa stamp cards do so with the MEP dollar price and, thus, prevent them from exchanging currencies in the informal market.
Due to the magnitude of this company, the Argentine government indicated that after its incorporation into the regime it is already 90% of the market share participating in operations that are carried out under this new exchange scheme, taking into account that Mastercard had previously been added.
Among the most important credit card operators, only the incorporation of American Express is missing. However, the economic team maintains that this company has less than 10% of the market and that the companies with the highest volume are already within the scheme.
What is the tourist dollar for foreigners
Through the new exchange scheme for non-residents, tourists can make their purchases with cards with the price of the MEP dollar, which currently stands at around A$ 314well above the official exchange rate that is quoted at A$ 178. In this way, the aim is to discourage the sale of foreign currency in the informal market.
This modality was implemented at the beginning of this month and the first company to offer this exchange scheme for its users was Mastercard, another of the main issuers of payment cards, for which the government expected the incorporation of Visa.
In the first week since Mastercard incorporated this exchange scheme, operations with these cards grew 25% in amount and 28% in number of transactions, according to company executives in a recent meeting they held with the authorities of the Central Bank of Argentina. .
In practical terms, it means that Argentina’s legal financial market will be cheaper for Uruguayans (and also people from other countries) who want to visit. However, until the implementation of this method, the tourists that Argentina received left their dollars in the “Little trees” in order to obtain more pesos for each dollar.
In this way, In comparison with the blue dollar, the new payment method for tourists does not imply major differences in the settlement of Argentine pesos. The blue exchange rate is trading this Thursday at A$316 for the purchase and A$320 for the sale.
The Observer and the Chronicler
