Argentines are declaring hundreds of millions of dollars of previously hidden savings in a tax amnesty that libertarian President Javier Milei hopes will boost the country’s moribund economy and scarce foreign exchange reserves.
Private deposits in dollars into Argentina’s banks are accelerating ahead of the scheme’s first-phase deadline on September 30, although data has not yet been released on sums declared specifically under the amnesty since it began in mid-July.
Central bank data shows Argentines made net deposits of $728mn in July and $749mn in August. That was up from a monthly net average of $532mn in the first seven months of Milei’s presidency — and average net withdrawals of $70mn a month in the two years before the radical leader took office in December.