HIGH INFLATION IN ARGENTINA

But most everybody wants to get the dólar blue, a black market exchange rate that was worth almost twice the dólar oficial rate when I moved to Argentina a year ago. When you buy or sell a house, a car, or something of great value, such as a computer or cell phone, this quote is used.

To get the coveted dólar blue rate, Argentinians must physically exchange pesos for dollars in person. Many people go to cuevas, where they'll find money dealers. Some of these money dealers ride motorcycles to their clients' houses. Other Buenos Aires residents visit Florida Street, which is full of shops and vendors who've taken in US dollars from tourists.

On this pedestrian-filled thoroughfare, cueva operators say, "Cambio? Cambio? Cambio?" every few meters. If they catch your eye, they'll beckon you to offer you their dólar blue rate. If you accept, they'll guide you to a clandestine cueva where the money deal can be made, sometimes a small office tucked away within a shopping center or at the back of a florist.

The exchange rates don't always make sense: You get more pesos for a newer $100 USD note than an old one. These exchanges are technically illegal, but this black market is tolerated and at least half of the country reportedly does it. After police have strolled through Florida Street, cuevas pop straight back up.

To pay off my landlord and obtain cash for other expenses, I go to Western Union to have money transferred from my Australian bank account to pick up in pesos. Until very recently, the largest banknote was for 1k pesos (worth around $1 in the dólar blue exchange rate). I'd bring a big backpack to Western Union just to cart them all home and then call my cueva — introduced to me by my landlord — to come over on his motorcycle to deal me USD.

 
A stack of Argentina pesos to cover four months of rent worth about $2k USD

I save the rest of my pesos for smaller, everyday expenses, but not at a local bank. My apartment, as well every apartment I toured, had an in-built safe for storing money; few trust the banks because during the 2001 financial crisis the government froze bank accounts.

Sometimes I have to return to the safe half way through my day to refill my deflated wallet and make it fat with pesos again.

To read the complete article, see:
I moved from a country with almost no inflation to the country with the highest (https://thehustle.co/originals/i-moved-from-a-country-with-almost-no-inflation-to-the-country-with-the-highest)

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