In the absence of dollars, people save in euros that rise in value

The dollar shortage persists. The saving population that has not been able to find the US currency in the bank or in the informal market of the capital of Santa Cruz, has begun to buy euros, which for this reason have also begun to rise.

“The dollar is still missing and there is an avalanche of buyers (…). Each one is looking for it, most have gone to Banco Unión, to Cuéllar street, to wait in line for two days to buy them”, says one of the free traders stationed near the 24 de Septiembre square, where US currency is sold. at Bs 7.50 per unit.

Due to the shortage of the dollar, the demand turned to the currency of the European Union, whose price reaches Bs 8.60, when the official exchange rate is Bs 7.45. “There are not many euros and what arrives leaves quickly,” says another money changer.

In the exchange houses in the area, the situation is similar. “The dollar is missing a lot. They sell us up to $200 maximum a day, but we don’t even have that for five minutes, because people ask and ask for dollars,” says the person in charge of one of these businesses, where currency is officially bought at Bs 6.95 and is sells at Bs 6.97.

“Other currencies are not arriving” either “in a greater quantity,” but they are buying them: euros, reais (from Brazil) and even soles (from Peru), because the sol remains stable. Very few euros arrive and they sell very quickly. People look for other currencies more than the Boliviano ”, he maintains.

For two months, the exchange market has suffered changes due to the fragility of the net international reserves (NIR) and inefficient measures by the Government to deal with this situation, according to analysts, and to speculation and political attacks, according to the Government.

“The Government should think to speak and not do it just like that. People get scared and remember what it was like in the 70s (the time of hyperinflation), they are worried and seek to ensure their savings,” says a free trader in downtown Santa Cruz.

Yesterday, around 11:00 a.m., on the same street where free traders and exchange houses are near the main square, a group of senior citizens lined up, on chairs, at the doors of Banco Unión, to withdraw their savings at Dollars. “I want to take out a part. Yesterday I called and they told me that there is; now they tell me that there is nothing and to just wait. We are going to be patient, to see if it arrives in the course of the morning”, says one of the savers, in the middle of a line that has formed since 7:00.

According to a person in charge of another exchange house, “there are banks that are giving from $1,000 to $1,500 and others are not giving anything.”

This shortage of dollars has made banks schedule the delivery of the currency to importers and limit the amount of dollars returned to savers, while demand increases in the informal market.

The economist Fernando Romero explains that currencies become a refuge of value “only if with them you buy assets that increase in value over time. All currency is devalued over time, not with respect to another, but by its loss of purchasing power.

In the La Ramada market, free traders say they pay up to Bs 7.40 per dollar to sell it for up to Bs 7.60. “We are paying a very high dollar, much more than the bank (…) and we have to sell dearly to survive,” says one of the currency traders, who was even offered that currency for up to Bs 7.80 per unit.

In this area of ​​Santa Cruz, to accumulate the amount of dollars needed to import electrical and electronic devices, for example, merchants “collect what they can, here $200, there $300, something that” had never been seen”, says another free trader.

“The police are harassing us. They already took four colleagues and made them sign a document that says that they are going to put them in prison if they find them next time (selling at a very high price)”, affirms the representative of the sector.

The same thing happened near the 24 de Septiembre square, where according to some witnesses, police officers took a money changer who was selling currency at Bs 8.50 per unit.
If the government authorities make it possible to sell dollars in banks, “this is going to calm down, at least somewhat,” says a currency seller.