Change needed as Argentina coin shortage grows
| Buenos Aires
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Despite Argentine President Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kirchner鈥檚 promise more than a year ago to introduce electronic bus tickets in Buenos Aires, the vast majority of the capital鈥檚 bus lines still only accepts coins. This would not be such a big deal if not for the fact that Argentina has had a coin shortage for more than three years. The crisis has turned normally mundane tasks 鈥� like buying a newspaper or a snack 鈥� into a big hassle.
There are various theories about the origin of the crisis. Some claim people are hoarding coins because inflation is making the metal worth more than the coins鈥� face value.
Bus companies run side businesses selling change to companies for a fee, and a black market in coins has sprung up. Government advertisements urge people not to hoard.
It may simply be a sign of exasperation, but people here seem to agree that the situation is getting worse. People like Estefania Franceschi, a journalist, is fed up with being offered candies instead of change.
鈥淏anks only give you up to 10 pesos in coins," explains Daniela Zeitune, a psychologist. "You can get change at the main train station, too, but if you鈥檙e working, you simply don鈥檛 have time to join the long queues.鈥�
Zeitune's husband, a doctor, has befriended the man who services the vending machines at his hospital, and so he often gets a fresh batch of coins.
The situation is also leaving buskers and the homeless short-changed. Alita Casal, a postgraduate student, says, 鈥淧eople sometimes hesitate handing coins to street musicians and beggars because they are afraid to run out.鈥� Some enterprising performers now offer change back to passersby.
Though one Chinese-owned supermarket chain has come up with an innovative solution 鈥� giving out vouchers whenever they run out of coins 鈥� it is clear that Buenos Aires is in need of a lot more change.
