BUENOS AIRES, May 7 — The Argentine government has announced new proposals to encourage citizens holding undeclared dollars to invest in energy and construction projects.
Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino said at a news conference Tuesday that the government would submit a bill to the Congress to establish a tax-free savings bond for the energy sector and an investment certificate for real estate.
Lorenzino said the measures were meant to pull dollar savings, especially those funds “Argentineans have hidden under their mattresses,” into the banking system by offering security and interest.
“Those who have undeclared dollar-savings can use them to shelter these savings in the real estate and construction sector as well as in energy infrastructure,” he said.
The move is in response to growing pressure to abruptly devalue the nation’s currency, the Argentinean peso, which has shed 22 percent of its value on the black market this year.
Argentines will have to deposit their undeclared dollars at the Central Bank, which will in turn issue certificates for the full amount, said bank president Mercedes Marco del Pont.
The amnesty for undeclared dollars will last three months once approved and would benefit any person or corporation, said Ricardo Echegaray, director of the Federal Administration of Public Income.
Elected officials and those facing money laundering charges would not be eligible, Echegaray said.
Lorenzino later denied the government was trying to open the foreign currency market on a day when the unofficial dollar exchange rate was double the official level.
President Cristina Fernandez on Monday ruled out devaluing the peso during her presidency.
Many Argentines have lost faith in the peso due to their country’s long history of devaluations and economic crises.
Argentina’s 2013 budget calculated the dollar’s average price at 5.10 pesos for the year, but the current official rate is 5.21 pesos to the dollar, while the unofficial rate is at 10 pesos.
Argentina has a ban on purchasing dollars for savings, with those traveling abroad able to buy up to 100 dollars a day.