After weeks of debate the Government decided to launch a new $2,000 billforced by the increasing nominal value of transactions as a result of inflation.
The decision was approved this Thursday by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank and now a process is beginning that will take several months until the new bill begins to circulate.
The measure was informed through an official statement from the monetary authority and without an official explanation of the reasons why it was chosen to issue a paper of $2,000 and not one of a higher denomination.
“While the payment digitization process progresses, this higher denomination bill will improve the operation of ATMs and at the same time optimize the transfer of cash,” said the entity in charge of Miguel Pesce.
Seeking to avoid discussions about the images they would carry, the BCRA decided to honor Cecilia Grierson, Argentina’s first doctor, and Ramón Carrillo, the Nation’s first Minister of Health.
On the obverse of the bill will be the figures of Grierson and Carrillo, while the reverse will represent the building of the Carlos G. Malbrán National Institute of Microbiology.
The Malbrán Institute is a decentralized public body founded in 1893 and whose mission is to participate in scientific and technical policies related to health aspects of the public sphere.
Dr. Cecilia Grierson was born in Buenos Aires on November 22, 1859 and died on April 10, 1934. She was the first doctor in Argentina, graduating in 1886 from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires, and practiced as an obstetrician. and kinesiologist.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ramón Carrillo was born on March 7, 1906 in Santiago del Estero. He was a neurosurgeon, neurobiologist, sanitary doctor and the first Minister of Health of the Nation. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires, in 1929, with a Medal of Honor.
The possibility of issuing a higher denomination bill has been under discussion in recent days and the confirmation occurred a week after Angel Mario Eletorre took over as head of the Mint, replacing Rodolfo Gabrielli from Mendoza, who He was displaced due to differences with the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa.
The decision was always torn between those who believe that issuing higher denomination bills fixes inflationary memory and takes away the incentive for electronic transactions, and those who used operational arguments.
To establish its position, the BCRA stated in the statement that it “promotes the use of electronic means of payment in transactions with innovative measures that allow their development from the Transference 3.0 program.”
Perhaps the reason for the choice of a $2,000 bill is found in the bidding of both sectors.
$2,000 bill: plus inflation
At the center of this decision is the inflationary escalation that is far from abating and consequently causes even the payment of a simple meal in a restaurant to demand a large number of bills.
In the last few hours, three reports appeared that estimated that inflation in January exceeded that of December and that it would have even climbed above 6%.
Consulting firm C&T published a report projecting a 6.4% price increase for last month, which would raise the year-on-year rate to 101.2%.
Meanwhile, CREEBA –which focuses on the evolution of prices in the southern zone of the province of Buenos Aires- calculated a variation of 6.5%.
Meanwhile, for EcoGo regulated prices (tariffs for public services and transport) will contribute a rise of 7.9%, while seasonal prices rose 6.4%. Core inflation placed it at 5.3%.
The Libertad y Progreso (L&P) Foundation, whose studies showed that consumer prices rose 6.3% last month, expressed a similar vein.
The official data will be published by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) on Tuesday, December 14.