She managed to get into one store right as it was closing. As the peso depreciated, many stores simply closed.
Massarelli lived this first-hand Tuesday as she sought supplies for her house in the Lomas de Zamora suburb. “With this level of spread, it’s difficult for the economy to function.” “The spread is an indicator of uncertainty,” said Gabriel Caamaño, chief economist at Consultora Ledesma, a local consultancy. Stringent capital controls mean that access to the official foreign exchange market is extremely limited, so parallel rates have flourished. The peso strengthened slightly Wednesday although the market remained “very volatile,” according to a currency dealer in Buenos Aires who declined to be identified because his work is technically illegal. dollar Tuesday, increasing the spread with the official rate to around 120%.
Since early last week, the peso in the informal market - known as the “blue” dollar rate - has depreciated around 20%, reaching a high of 495 pesos to the U.S. Massarelli’s struggle with the door reflected the uncertainty in Argentina as its currency has sharply depreciated over the past week in the informal market, raising fresh questions about the fragility of the Argentinian economy ahead of October presidential elections. Her eventual purchase, at 31,900 Argentinian pesos, amounted to US$65 at black-market rates, US$144 at the official rate. “I went to a lot of places and they were closing, they said, ‘I can’t sell to you’, ‘I can’t sell to you’ and the doors they did want to sell were of a really crappy material.” And store owners - faced with potentially higher costs to replace doors the next day - mostly wanted to hold onto their merchandise. The 29-year-old mother of two said she found one prospect Tuesday morning at about 20,000 pesos, but noted with exasperation that the price went up by afternoon to more than 30,000. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Antonela Massarelli desperately needed a front door for the new house she and her family will move into this weekend in a Buenos Aires suburb.
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