For the first time in the country’s exchange history, the dollar reached a maximum of 3,599 pesos, a level that was not in the accounts of analysts and much less of the Government.
The culprit that the US currency is skyrocketing is the speed with which the coronavirus expands throughout the world, including Colombia, where its arrival was reported yesterday with a person who tested positive, according to the Ministry of Health.
And although the price of the dollar in Colombia was only a weight of exceeding 3,600 pesos, about 77 pesos above yesterday’s official rate (3,522.41 pesos), at the end of the day the spirits calmed down a bit, which caused the negotiation rate to loosen up to 3,587, 25 pesos
(You may be interested: For coronavirus, dollar in Colombia peeked to a maximum of $ 3,600)
How to dodge the sharp rise?
Thus, the average trading cost yesterday was set at 3,584.44 pesos, according to the currency trading system of the Colombian Stock Exchange (BVC), while the Superfinancial certified an official rate (TRM) for this weekend and Monday of 3,584.58 pesos, record level in the country.
So far this year, the US currency has increased by about 307.5 pesos, which translates into a loss of value of the peso against the dollar of 9.38 percent. BA part of this devaluation is caused by the epidemic that has already infected more than 100,000 people in 87 countries and has claimed the lives of at least 3,385 individuals in the world.
Although some analysts estimate that this epidemic may last a few more months, the fear of others is that it be longer than expected, with which the effects on the world economy could be greater.
With a 307 dollar, 5 pesos more expensive today than at the beginning of the year, there are certainly sectors and people that are already starting to feel that pressure in their finances, especially tourism, airlines, who have debts in dollars and people who must meet commitments abroad and require foreign exchange for their trips.
Credit Card Management
For some personal finance experts, the credit card option usually It is rarely less economical than cash, more when it comes to using it outside the country, as some costs associated with its use must be taken into account, even if the person deferred expenses to a single fee.
One of the aspects that people should take into account when using the cards abroad is what exchange rate the bank will apply, since some franchises apply to the cardholders the exchange rate in force on the day they use the plastic abroad, others instead use the current rate of the cut-off date of the month of the customer’s card.
For Andrés Langebaek, director of Economic Studies of the Bolivar Group, What the person must do is to have cards from both franchises (Visa and MasterCard) and use them according to the expectations of the dollar’s behavior.
For example, he says, “If I think that the dollar will fall in the coming months, which is what should happen, I use the card that bills the balance of the dollar debt month by month, since this low will favor the next payments; but if you believe that the exchange rate will rise, you should use the card that invoices with the rate of the day you made the purchase, because all payments made are billed with the current rate and not with the future one. ”
There are alternatives that require a greater degree of market knowledge, since you look at what the future behavior of the currency will be. With that information, if the trend is upward, the person can borrow in pesos to pay off his debt in card dollars.
Langebaek also comments that the financial sector offers some hedging mechanisms with which, who has bought the ‘dollar in the future’, will not be harmed by the current rise.
This mechanism is widely used by those who are not currency generators and have dollar debts, such as entrepreneurs.
“There are also natural mechanisms. Importers can develop export activities, so what they lose for more expensive imports they earn with greater export value, ”he explains.
By: Economy and Business Writing
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