Uruguayans could take advantage of the growth in the exchange rate difference to cross this weekend to the neighboring country.
He Dolar blue reached a new all-time high in Argentina and the price gap with the neighboring country was stretched again, so many Uruguayans They may be tempted to take advantage of the exchange difference to cross the border and make purchases, a practice that may have a resurgence this weekend.
The US currency closed this Friday at 880 Argentine pesos in the parallel market, according to a survey by Ambit, reaching a gap of 151.4% with the official exchange rate, a situation that worries the government of Uruguay, in a context of political and economic uncertainty in the neighboring country, a few days before the elections general.
With a Dolar blue which seems unstoppable, which increased 154.3% in the year, became more expensive by 80 Argentine pesos in one week and became the most expensive exchange rate on the market, surpassing the CCL and the crypto, it remains to wonder: will this be a reason for Will Uruguayans cross the border again en masse?
It is that the price gap, which weeks ago was calculated at 199%, continues to increase and the exchange rate is favorable for Uruguayans. Thus, a new shopping boom is expected in the neighboring country for this weekend, which will surely deepen next long weekend, due to the holiday on Monday the 16th for the Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity (happens from Thursday the 12th).
It is worth remembering that there are close to 8,800 people, on average, who cross from the country to Argentina every day, according to data from the Concordia-Salto Border Center, something that weakens the merchants in those departments, where the drop in sales reaches up to 60%.
The government’s concern
Despite the new maximum of Dolar blue, The scenario is not new for the government headed by the president Luis Lacalle Pou, which closely follows the issue concerned with the decrease in revenue caused by the diversion of consumption but also with the impact on the situation in the border departments.
To the warnings of Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) and the Fiscal Advisory Council (CFA), the government’s decision to meet with the next elected president of Argentina to treat the problem. This was confirmed days ago by the Secretary of the Presidency, Alvaro Delgado, who said that the way to find “mechanisms” to reverse the “deterioration that exists” due to the price gap must be re-evaluated with the president-elect of the neighboring country.
The exchange difference triggered medical tourism
Among the new practices associated with the exchange difference appears the so-called medical tourism, since the Federation of Interior Doctors (FEMI) reported the admission for smuggling of different medications for about 5 million dollars from the neighboring country.
Enrique Padialpresident of Pharmacy Center of Uruguay, He referred along the same lines in the Underlined dialogue, which admitted that “at the beginning of the year there was a differentiating issue that was important,” but admitted that “that was increasing due to the increase in the famous Dolar blue that did not stop rising and, evidently, all of this disrupted everything that is the operation of the Uruguayan pharmacy.”
Source: Ambito
