Argentina seeks to attract dollars with bank account for foreign tourists

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Central Bank of Argentina resolved this Thursday (28) to enable foreign tourists to open a bank account in which they can deposit dollars for their expenses in pesos during their visit. This measure seeks to attract foreign currency at a growing appetite for the U.S. currency in the South American country.

Using a resolution adopted by the board of directors of the monetary authority, foreign tourists visiting Argentina will be able to open a bimonetary savings account (U.S. dollars and Argentine pesos) virtually or upon their arrival in the country and use this account to access financial services and electronic means of payment.

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To do so, visitors must have a bank account in their country of origin, which will be the only one authorized to transfer dollars to the account in Argentina.

As explained by the Central Bank in a statement, these accounts may be used for purchases in stores in Argentine pesos by debit card or through digital banking applications and to make cash withdrawals in Argentine currency.

Foreign currency credits in this “tourist savings account” must be made using transfers from the account holder’s accounts in the country of origin or dollar deposits in cash for up to 5,000 dollars.

Suppose there is a balance in the customer’s account in foreign currency at the end of the trip. In that case, the bank must automatically transfer it to the account in the country of origin and close it so that no cash withdrawals of foreign currency may be made.

MORE TOURISM, MORE DOLLARS

According to the Argentine government, with the opening of these accounts, tourists “benefit because they do not handle cash, do not have to go to a ‘cave’ (informal currency sale site), and avoid the risk of robbery or swindle with counterfeit currencies”.

“It is important news for foreign tourism,” government sources stressed to Efe regarding a measure that is adopted at a time when Argentina is preparing for the reopening to foreign tourism from November 1, after the general closure of borders in March 2020 before the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, before the global health crisis, Argentina received 3,065,200 foreign tourists, bringing in foreign exchange of US$3.1769 billion, according to official data.

“We have the best expectations for this new stage, where inbound tourism will be the protagonist of the economic reactivation through foreign currency income and job generation,” Argentine Tourism Minister Matías Lammens said Thursday at a meeting with Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and a dozen Argentine ambassadors to coordinate actions to promote the arrival of foreign tourists.

The foreign currency provided by tourism could help calm exchange rate tensions in Argentina. The demand for dollars as a hedge among investors is growing, given the doubts aroused by the weak domestic economy.

This Thursday, the quotation of the US currency in the informal market broke a new record, closing at 198 pesos per US dollar, compared to a much lower value in the official retail market, which closed at an all-time high of 105 pesos per dollar.

However, foreign tourists will not have to exchange their dollars deposited in the particular savings account at the unfavorable official rate. Rather, they will be able to do so at the alternative rate of the so-called “MEP dollar”, which closed this Thursday at 179.23 pesos per dollar.