For years, Argentinians have preferred to pay for many goods and services in greenbacks, rather than with their own collapsing currency, as part of an informal “blue dollar” currency market. To dollarize its economy, Argentina would need to exchange all pesos held by its people and businesses for US dollars, and assign a dollar value to all of its assets and contracts. The Fed would continue to set the cost of borrowing based on the needs of the US economy, not Argentina’s. Practical headacheThere’s another significant snag in Milei’s plan: Argentina doesn’t have enough dollars to ditch the peso. “People would need to take wheelbarrows of cash to convert to dollars,” Sabatini said.

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Persons: Javier Milei, Sergio Massa, Argentina’s, JP Morgan, Argentinians, Milei, Natacha, Matias Baglietto, Reuters “ That’s, ” Christopher Sabatini, Kimberley Sperrfechter, ” Sperrfechter, It’s, ” Sabatini, Luis Robayo, Sabatini, ” Organizations: London CNN, National Institute of Statistics, Argentina’s, US Federal Reserve, Economic, Reuters, America, Chatham House, CNN, Capital Economics, International Monetary Fund, Getty, IMF Locations: Argentina, greenbacks, Washington, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, United States, Buenos Aires, AFP