The Economy Minister, Luis Caputo, made the announcement from the Casa Rosada, together with the spokesman Manuel Adorni, of the measures that enable the use of undeclared dollars, and reiterated that it is not a laundering but ‘a change of regime’.

The changes are based on the conception of the president Javier Milei for whom those who hid the dollars under the mattress violating the tax authorities are heroes, and can now deposit them or transfer them without having to give explanations about their origin; it does not matter how they got them, they just have to put them into circulation, he pointed out in statements made a few days ago.

According to the executive’s estimates, Argentines have between 200 billion and 400 billion dollars ‘under the mattress’, which is equivalent to a portion of the Gross Domestic Product of 33 to 66 percent.

For commentator Solange Rial, from Ambito Financiero newspaper, the circulation of the ”mattress dollars” would help the financial market as it would provide reserves, but with a limited scope, she pointed out.

Minister Caputo argued that people will no longer have the worry or fear that if they want to make a transfer or deposit large amounts of foreign currency and the bank considers that the origin of the money is not justified, the entity would be obliged to report a suspicious operation to the authorities.

You will be able to use the dollars without any problems and no one will have to ask for explanations of anything.

You can use the dollars without leaving your fingers marked’, said President Milei in an interview to the TV channel A24 prior to the announcement.

Analysts and personalities warn that the measures allow the laundering of money even from illicit activities such as drug trafficking and others, and would be leading Argentina to become a ‘currency laundering machine’ and thus a tax haven.

abo/jcm/mh