Blue dollar vs. Card: due to an unprecedented gap, spending with plastic abroad is a good deal

The exchange gap is one of the big problems that the Argentine economy has today and, on the other hand, it offers an advantage for those who have the possibility of making payments in dollars abroad. (for purchases or payment of services) or are traveling in another country. And, while the blue dollar and the financial ones are skyrocketing and are approaching $900, the Dollar Card or Qatar, that exchange rate that was created in the World Cup and that at the time was the most expensive, today it is stuck at $660.

The pre-electoral context that favors dollarization, the strong injection of pesos into the economy to bring relief to pockets after the devaluation and a frozen official exchange rate, among other factors, led to a meteoric rise of the blue dollar and other parallel exchange rates, such as the MEP and the “contado con liqui”despite the existing restrictions and strong intervention from the Government.

“The decision to keep the official dollar under control widened the gap with the parallels“, as the economist Natalia Motyl explains to Ambit. And, the card dollar, being linked to the official value, lagged behind these exchange alternatives. That is why it indicates that “the gap in the Qatar dollar is due to the delay in updating the official exchange rate.”

Blue dollar: the gap aggravates the situation

As this gap widens with respect to parallel dollars, so does the card dollar gap. “This shows the exhaustion of the current economic model and the unsustainability of monetary policy,” indicates the economist. And she points out that the decision to maintain a backward exchange rate It has various negative consequences, such as the generation of differential exchange rates, the shortage of dollars and bottlenecks in productive sectors.

For Motyl, the spread is exacerbated due to the expansive monetary and fiscal policy promoted in recent weeks for electoral reasons and, consequently, the restrictions on the official dollar, in a context of uncertainty, increase the demand for dollars in parallel markets.

However, these circumstances have significant implications, including the suffocation of the productive structure due to the lack of dollars and the increase in prices in the economy in response to parallel exchange rates, among others.

Dollar Card: it is convenient to pay everything with plastic

Mentioned the above, The gap in the Card dollar drives people to spend abroad with plastic instead of using their own dollarsaggravating the country’s foreign exchange drain, a measure that, according to financial advisors, “benefits the upper middle class.”

To this we must add that The Qatar dollar or Card, which includes 30% of the COUNTRY tax, a 45% deductible of the Income and Personal Property Tax, and a new perception of 5% on account of Personal Property is listed this Friday at $660.60, for So whoever used it will be able to collect the deductible next April, be it a little or a lot, is an extra benefit of the gap.

Thus, the ideal investment advisor in the market, Gaston Lentiniexplains that the recommendation for those traveling abroad is to use the card, since they will be paying at a more favorable rate of $660 per dollar as long as the official exchange rate is not devalued”, something that could happen after the 22nd October, general election day.

Lentini adds that, in addition, Those who have the possibility of taking advantage of the gap will be able to recover “the taxes paid in April”, so “for now the card can be burst.”

Along the same lines, the economist expresses herself Elena Alonso, who maintains that “the recommendation is to use the card when paying abroad, since the official exchange rate is outdated.” Like Lentini, he warns that this can be done “if you close the card before the elections, since it is possible that there will then be an increase in the official exchange rate, which would make you pay a more expensive dollar”. In that sense, he warns that you have to be very careful.

However, despite this, It will still be convenient to pay by card, since the official exchange rate will be below the parallel dollarespecially after deduction of the twenty% which was implemented previously.

“If the card is closed before the elections, a favorable exchange rate is ensured, considerably lower than the parallel dollar and the MEP dollarproviding an interesting option for purchases abroad,” concludes Alonso.