LA RIOJA, Argentina (AP) — They appear to be money, match into wallets like money and the governor guarantees they’ll be handled like money. However these brightly coloured banknotes aren’t pesos, the depreciating nationwide forex of Argentina, or U.S.
{dollars}, everybody’s cash of alternative right here. They’re chachos, a brand new emergency tender invented by the left-wing populist governor of La Rioja, a province within the nation’s northwest that went broke when far-right President Javier Milei slashed federal price range transfers to provinces as a part of an unprecedented austerity program . “Who would have imagined that at some point I’d discover myself wishing I’d gotten pesos?” mentioned Lucia Vera, a music trainer rising from a gymnasium full of state employees ready to get their month-to-month bonus of chachos value 50,000 pesos (about $40).
Throughout La Rioja’s capital, “Chachos accepted right here” decals now seem on the home windows of every thing from chain supermarkets and gasoline stations to upscale eating places and hair salons. The native authorities ensures a 1-to-1 change fee with pesos, and accepts chachos for tax funds and utilities payments. However there’s a catch.
Chachos can’t be used exterior La Rioja, and solely registered companies can swap chachos for pesos at a number of authorities change factors. “I would like actual cash,” mentioned Adriana Parcas, a 22-year-old avenue vendor who pays her suppliers in pe.