Argentines Spend Most Dollars Since 2018 on Strong Peso Policy

  • Locals shelled out $645 million for purchases in January
  • Currency’s strength ignites wave of spending in Chile, Brazil
Javier Milei’s government is trying to keep the Argentine peso’s value relative to the greenback steady.Photographer: Erica Canepa/Bloomberg
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Argentines are spending the most amount of dollars in years as they cash in on a strong peso, stoking further worries over the path of President Javier Milei’s currency policy.

Credit card spending that originates in dollars or other foreign currencies reached $645 million in January, the highest since February 2018, according to data from Argentina’s central bank. Those figures are just a portion of total outlays as they exclude debit card or digital wallet transactions, which have surged in popularity in recent years.