Bolivia is going through a serious reserve crisis and citizens seek to avoid losing purchasing power by taking refuge in the euro. The Government says that the situation is “transitory”.
bolivian It is going through a serious reserve crisis and citizens seek to avoid losing purchasing power by taking refuge in the euro. The dollar became very difficult to obtain in the banks and the informal dollar market became more expensive for the majority of savers.
“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 line up for two days to buy them ”, he says one of the bet free traders near the 24 de Septiembre square, where the US currency is sold at Bs 7.50 per unit, the eju.tv media outlet assured.
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 per daybut we don’t have that for even 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 sold at Bs 6.97.
For the past two months, the exchange market has suffered changes due to the fragility of net international reserves (RIN) and inefficient government measures to deal with this situation, according to analysts, and speculation and political attacks, according to the government.
The government’s position
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, affirmed that the problem of lack of dollars that the country is going through is “transitory”, since the economy is “well” and the financial system remains “stable”.
In a television interview, when asked about this crisis that has crowded thousands of Bolivians at the gates of the Central Bank of Bolivia to get dollars, Arce clarified that the health of the banking system is at risk “not at all.”
In addition, he affirmed that it is not necessary to devaluate the currency and has explained that there is a “currency war” that is leading countries to take refuge in gold, without clarifying the level of Bolivia’s international reserves.
Source: Ambito
