We love our local empanada shop and have been eating their delicious empanadas since we arrived in 2010, when the cost was 3.50 each. In two short years, the prices have nearly doubled, and they now cost 6 pesos each.
Inflation is a major problem in Argentina. The government turns a blind eye and maintains that the current inflation rate is 8%. However, economists believe that it's closer to 25% annually, but no one will publish those numbers, because bad things happen when people go against the President and her cronies. It doesn't take an expert to know that the rate is high, we know this because each and every time we go to the grocery store, the prices have increased.
Aside from ridiculous inflation, the government has recently put extreme restrictions on the US dollar. Argentines are only allowed to have dollars if they can prove that they will be traveling to a country which uses them as currency, and even then, they are only allowed a certain number of dollars per day. This is all regulated through the government, and the people are expected to provide trip itineraries and ticket purchases to prove that they are going to need dollars. Can you imagine having to "check in" with the government and provide proof of travel to take your own money out in dollars?! The peso is so devalued that most airports will not take Argentine pesos at all, so exchanging pesos for dollars at their destination isn't really an option either. And this is where it gets even stickier, if a traveler chooses to use their Argentine credit card to make purchases outside of Argentina, a 15% tax is added to each purchase. The intent, I think, is to encourage Argentines to buy Argentine products, however, their products aren't the same quality (they're very poor quality, actually) and cost at least twice the price. Newsflash, President Kirchner--It's not going to happen.
As you can imagine, this has created a crazy "blue" dollar black market, with the blue dollar rate at almost double that of the official dollar to peso rate. People have started to refer to Argentina as "Argen-zuela", because it's becoming more and more like Chavez land each day. We are lucky that both of our paychecks are in US dollars and that, even with these increases, we can afford to buy groceries and pay rent. I honestly don't know how people who are paid in pesos survive. Each new restriction is really hurting the people here, and it's hard to watch. Things are starting to get crazy; it's probably a good time to head North.
When we arrived, in August, we paid 8.49 per loaf. Yes, I am that crazy person taking photos of random food in the supermarket. I'm ok with that.
Dec 2010
And the price today. I like that they increased the price and decreased the size of the actual price tag. Clever.
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