Why do Argentineans use USD when displaying high price items? Why don't they use ARP since it's the official?

Question

Such as cars and house... just to name a few.

Answer 1

Other than cars and high value property, the rest of the items is usually displayed in pesos.... unless it´s a tourist trap of course! :-)

Answer 2

usually you can see US$ only for real estate and for rental cost in Puerto Madero or some exclusive and very expensive stuff.  Real Estate because ARP exchange rate is very changeble. If the price is in US$ (but there is also someone who put the rice in € now) it's more stable. Real Estate in Argentina infact was the only thing who didn't suffer too much even with the big crash of 2001. about Rental in Puerto Madero because most of the people who rent an apartment are not argentinean so, if they use an international currency it's even easier for all. an Argentinean infact cannot efford to rent in Puerto Madero. Same thing for the expensive exclusive stuff. Everything else is quoted in ARP: air conditioning, TV (even very expensive), etc etc etc...

Answer 3

It makes them seem cheaper, since a smaller number is used! I got cought out on this in Brazil when I bought a watch I thought was very cheap when I saw the number (because I thought it was in Reais) but it was actually in dollars. Quite annoying isn't it!!

Answer 4

Argentine peso collapses every few years.

Inflation is eroding the value quite quickly. Even though the US dollar has dropped in value against the pound and the EURO, the peso has lost about a third of its value against the US dollar in the past 5 years.

Same Same in every latin american country. Ecuador has been using the dollar as official currency since the Sucre collapsed a few years ago.