Many Argentineans are desperate for dollars.

I didn’t know this until a friend a mine (non-Argentinean) told me her frustrating story on exchanging pesos to dollars. Her landlord requested rental payment in dollars only. She had to withdraw pesos from the ATM (ATM fee) and then exchange them to dollars (lost some money due to the exchange rate) at the bank. Bank has asked for her legal documents, the reason she needed the money, etc. It was a huge hassle.

So, I checked with my host regarding the money changing situation in Argentina. She told me that since October 2011, government has imposed currency control and has restricted its residents to buy dollars. ATM has daily withdrawal limit as well. I don’t know the real reason for this currency control and I don’t how how long it would last.

I brought enough dollars with me that would last the whole trip. Paying in dollars at hostels was welcomed.

Since dollars are desirable, you can get better rate if you buy pesos from the locals. I would assume they would later sell the dollars in the black market.

The exchange rate that I get was 4.30 which was just about the official rate. I didn’t really negotiate. I thought it was fair. I heard in the black market you can get 5.0+ rate.

I have been careful not to exchange too much since I don’t want to end up with lots of pesos at the end of my trip. I’m not sure how easy it is for tourists to change the pesos back to dollars. We might have to show receipt at the bank? When you buy your pesos from the locals, perhaps you can pre-negotiate with them so that you can exchange the extra pesos back to dollars later.

Be aware of fake Argentinean bills floating around.

Happy travels.