Brother, can you spare a centavo?
In Argentina’s capital city, the need for change is more than a political slogan – it’s an economic reality.
For the past few months, the number of coins in circulation in Buenos Aires has dipped so low that everyday activities like paying a bus fare and making purchases at a store have become nearly impossible. Banks, bus companies and other businesses whose transactions involve a lot of coins stand accused of hoarding them and selling them illegally to other small retailers at a profit. Although Argentina’s Central Bank is churning out more coins to meet the demand, the black market is absorbing the change almost immediately.
Some store owners are solving the problem by rounding up prices to the nearest dollar – in their favor, of course. Others would rather just turn a potential customer away if he or she can’t pay with exact change. One shop owner says, "Clients always return, but coins are impossible to find.”
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Similar problems in Zimbabwe
As of last week, the exchange rate of the Zimbabwean dollar to the U.S. dollar is 9,3 followed by 16 zeros. I don't even know what that number is! One hundred billion dollars can buy three eggs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar). It sounds like people have basically resorted to a bartering system; I wonder if the same will happen eventually in Argentina (on a less extreme level, of course).
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