The Ministry of Economy and Finance indicated that the exchange difference between both countries had a negative impact on tax revenues.
The General Tax Directorate (DGI)dependence on Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF)estimated a loss in the annual revenue of 2023 close to 50 million dollars due to the shopping tourism of Uruguayans in the Argentina.
The images of the exodus of Uruguayans towards the Argentina that were seen last year, a product of the exchange difference between both countries, which generated a significant price gap, not only negatively impacted the outflow of foreign currency, but also on national tax revenues due to smuggling and tax evasion.
After the assumption of Argentine President Javier Milei and the subsequent devaluation of the Argentine peso, the price gap between the two nations narrowed, something that established a brake on the diversion of consumption by Uruguayans.
About this, the Director of Economic Policy of the MEF, Marcela Bensiónassured Search that, currently, the smallest gap with Argentina. “We have improved a little compared to what we had in the last scenarios,” she said.
“Although the price difference has improved a lot, it still exists”
However, the MEF maintains that they remain skeptical about this, since “although the price difference between both countries has greatly improved, it still exists.”
“We asked the DGI to make an estimated measurement (for 2023),” Bensión explained before adding: “With the two methodologies used, they gave around 50 million dollars that the country would have lost if it had collected due to the diversion of the consumption”.
Between November and January, the price gap between Uruguay and Argentina fell almost 60% according to the Economic Observatory of the Catholic University of Uruguay Salto (UCU Salto), until reaching 97.4%. Own Mayor of Salto, Andrés Limastated that “it is no longer attractive” for Uruguayans to cross binational bridges to make purchases in Argentina after the change of government on the neighboring shore.
Source: Ambito
