Uruguayans who make payments through virtual wallets in Argentina will access a new exchange rate after the Central Bank of that country decided to extend the application of the MEP dollar.
The MEP dollar, which has as reference the financial dollars Argentines, was already applied to payments made by foreigners with credit cards. With this mechanism, Uruguayan tourists pay cards in dollars and financial companies sell those dollars in Argentina through the financial market. Then they pay the shops or services in pesos.
This means that, based on the decision taken by the Argentine Central Bank, those who chose, for example, to use the payment platform Prex, which offered a specific dollar, will now access the MEP dollar price, usually higher than the first. This Friday, for example, it was trading at 430.19 Argentine pesos.
With this decision, Argentina aims, on the one hand, to discourage the attendance of foreign tourists to the blue dollar market and inject liquidity into the financial dollar, as another way of continuing to control that market, and, at the same time, advances in its intention to promote the use of digital payment tools.
In recent weeks, the phenomenon of Uruguayans crossing the border has deepened, mainly towards Concord and Gualeguaychuto make purchases in Argentine supermarkets, encouraged by the exchange difference and the significant price gap. Buying the same products in Uruguay can cost up to 123% more expensive, according to the latest report from the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU).
Source: Ambito
