Bargains and headaches as Argentina's thirst for dollars prompt currency and customs controls
The Brazilian visitors gawk in wonder as they stroll past shop windows along touristy Florida street in the Argentine capital. The jackets, the shoes — they're all so cheap when your purse is stuffed with black-market money.
Visitors who turn to the streets rather than the banks to swap their dollars in Argentina are getting a bonanza of extra pesos and can shop much more cheaply than back at home. A leather jacket that costs $250 in Lima, Peru, can be had for about $150 in Buenos Aires.
"We find differences in the food, the perfumes, the shoes ... with almost everything," said 27-year-old Edjane Mendes, who was browsing Florida street with her 19-year-old friend Michele Aline. Both are Brazilians studying in Buenos Aires.
The weakening peso has led to a flood of day-trippers and other visitors from neighbouring countries into Argentina, which keeps tightening its currency controls in hopes of protecting foreign reserves and reducing the flight of dollars. Argentines who feel their savings are perpetually at risk tend to save in other currencies, and in other countries, whenever they can.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/bargains-headaches-argentinas-thirst-dollars-prompt-currency-customs-154046142.html
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