02/20/2020 - 17:42
- Clarín.com
- Society
"We give them $ 1 and $ 2 coins to add five." "We also offer you two candies." "Sometimes they realize and buy another product to reach the round number." These are some of the situations experienced by newsagents, merchants, storekeepers and marketers in these days when the $ 5 bill is about to go out of circulation. While the strategies multiply to avoid remaining in the hand with some of the papers that carry the face of San Martín, another problem grows: the lack of change .
"There are tickets, but the $ 5 coins shine for their absence. There are no coins, we have problems with customers, you laugh. How are they going to get them out of the bills if they can't replace them? It's a problem. They should extend, but we see that it is not urgent. There are no coins at all, "said Yolanda Durán, president of CEDEAPSA, the camera that brings together Chinese supermarkets.
Retail merchants claim that the shortage of exchange will worsen as of Monday, when the $ 5 bills cease to be valid. Without success, they tired of insisting that their circulation exit be extended again .
According to information from the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) as of February 14 there were 411 million $ 5 bills and 138 million coins. A ratio of almost 3 to 1 . A month ago, when the entity decided to postpone the withdrawal, the distance was even greater. There were 460 million bills and 94 million coins. Almost 5 to 1.
The initial deadline was February 1, but in mid-January it was extended for Saturday 29 . In addition, the BCRA gave another month of grace to change banknotes: until March 31.
As Miguel Pesce, president of the banking entity had explained, the measure was aimed at "facilitating the commercial operations of all the actors in the financial system". But, as retailers explain, the improvement was not enough and they are worried .
The $ 5 bills will go out of circulation starting March 1st. (The Andes)
Duran, for example, said they are "quite complicated with the change" and added the fact that by law traders must round down. In tune, Pedro Cascales, press secretary of the Argentine Chamber of Medium Enterprises (CAME) summed up Clarín days ago: "The reality is that there are no coins . The problem is not so serious because there is still a ticket, but it goes away to aggravate when they leave circulation. "
"It is not enough with the $ 1 and $ 2 coins to make the $ 5 return," said Néstor Adrián Palacios, president of the Kiosker Union of the Argentine Republic (UKRA). Another point he noted is the difference between the province of Buenos Aires and Federal Capital with the rest of the country. "Inside the coins don't appear," he said. And he pointed out the "rejection" of some neighbors or wholesalers to the $ 5 bills, who no longer want to accept it.
The Argentine Chamber of Commerce and CAME had originally requested that the circulation exit be postponed for six months . In that sense, Cascales said that "the extension was meager" since it was only postponed for one month for businesses and two months for the exchange in banking entities. The issue was discussed at the CAME Board of Directors meeting and a complaint was presented for the lack of coins.
BCRA sources consulted by Clarín ruled out for now the possibility of setting a new deadline and ratified the current schedule. They emphasized that since Sunday they cannot be used anymore. But it will be possible to deposit or change them in banks until March 31.
Camila Magnano
