Milei's peso moves drive a black-market boom hitting Argentines hard

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00:00Contraband is coming into Argentina at historic levels right here at the border with Bolivia.

00:05There's been drug trafficking and illegal commerce here for decades,

00:09but now the black market is booming while the formal economy in Argentina is in a crisis.

00:14This trend is due in large part because of the currency crisis in Bolivia over there,

00:18and also President Millet's strong grip on the peso in Argentina, which investors see as overvalued.

00:24It's not just the amount of contraband that's coming into Argentina, but the types of products.

00:28Everything from iPhones to vegetables, paper towels, toilet paper, TVs, you name it,

00:35it's crossing the border, and some of it en route to Buenos Aires.

00:38That's some a thousand miles from where I'm standing right now.

00:41And it reflects a growing nationwide trend in Argentina of more informality while the formal

00:46job market is still well below the levels it was at when Millet took office in December of 2023.

00:52Here nearby in Oran, the main city closest to the border, shop owners say their sales are down

00:5840% so far this year, and the local business chamber estimates another 40 businesses have closed

01:04because they can't compete with the half-priced products across the border in Bolivia.

01:08Javier Millet faces a challenging election for his party on October 26th, and this province,

01:14Celta, is actually going to be a very important place. We spoke with locals who I've run out of

01:19tolerance with Millet and his shock therapy policies, his chainsaw of austerity, because they are not

01:25making it to the end of the month.