The Exchange Rate is a concept that originated and is widely used in the Argentine Republic to name a measure that the government of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner took in November 2011 and which basically consisted of restricting the sale of currency in the country of the dollar. One of the consequences of this measure so questioned by citizens and economists, among others, was the creation of a parallel exchange rate, popularly called the Blue Dollar, and which at times knew how to exceed the official exchange rate by seven pesos, nothing more. and nothing less.
Very serious consequences on economic activity
But the creation of the Cepo did not have as the only consequence the generation of a blue dollar, it also gave rise to very strong and growing inflation, various exchange rates (tourist, card), a fact that made the exchange market rare and complicated even more, but also It caused severe complications in imports and exports, in the real estate market, among other areas that were certainly paralyzed.
The mission to prevent currency flight that never worked
The management of Fernández de Kirchner who installed him in November 2011 made the decision to restrict the sale of foreign currency due to the incessant flight of capital from the country. With this measure they proposed to stop this massive action but four years later the measure showed that it did not turn out to be positive at all since, in addition to not preventing the outflow of foreign currency abroad, it complicated and totally paralyzed the economy.
Request authorization from the AFIP
On November 1, 2011, Argentines who wanted to acquire dollars had to request authorization from the AFIP (Federal Administration of Public Revenues). An income floor was imposed to allow the purchase and that also caused that very few people were able to buy dollars, opening that parallel market that we mentioned above and that at a certain point marked the economic pulse of the last four years in the country. That is, the prices of products and services and the economy in general moved by the value of Blue and not by the official dollar.
Many political analysts consider that this measure was the beginning of the end of the Kirchner era since the middle class notably resisted the measure.
President Mauricio Macri lifts the stocks after his electoral promise
Throughout 2015, the year of elections in the country, the various candidates tried to seduce the electorate by anticipating the lifting of the stocks if they came to power, one of the most forceful in this regard was Mauricio Macri.
And the promise came true, on December 17, 2015, when the Argentine Minister of Finance and Finance Alfonso Prat Gay announced the exit of the foreign exchange stocks.
Such action implied a devaluation of the Argentine peso -balanced in its announcement week-, thus the price of the single dollar was trading between $ 12.80 and $ 13.10 for the purchase and sale, respectively.
Photos: iStock - alexmak72427 / BsWei
