This Friday, 1st April 2022, the Euro rate in Argentina is at $117.50 for buy and $124.50 for sale, maintaining its trend without fluctuation. 

Regarding the currency on the parallel market, the blue euro is presently trading at $236.00 for buying and $230.00 for selling. Hence, it is priced higher than the last one reported. With such values, the differential between the blue euro and the official euro is 101%. The price of the blue euro has a significantly greater difference compared to the official one, since the latter is the one acquired in the banks and has an approved exchange rate. 

 Why is it called blue euro?

Following the example of the blue dollar, the blue Euro is the one that operates in the black market and tends to have a higher price than the official one. An interpretation of its name indicates that it is called that way because in English, “blue”, in other words, not only refers to the color blue, but also to something “dark”. In this sense, it refers to the exchange of currency out of the official exchange system.

The term blue Euro was first used in 2011, as a result of the severe limitations on the acquisition of foreign currency implemented by the Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) and the Central Bank of Argentina during the governorship of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

In December 2019, these limitations gained new impulse after the announcements of President Alberto Fernández on the Economic Emergency Law, which strengthened during 2020 with the exchange rate hike. This leads to those sectors that travel overseas to choose buying Euros on the illegal market, causing an upsurge in the value of the blue Euro.  

The origin of the Euro

The Euro currency was released on January 1, 1999, when 10 countries established their own exchange rates and entrusted their interest rate rulings to the newly-created European Central Bank. Euro banknotes and coins first circulated three years later.

The widely shared currency was seen as a settlement to the ongoing exchange-rate disputes that had scarred European politics after World War II and as a natural outgrowth of the European Union’s tariff-free area. Great Britain, particularly, has opted not to participate, but 19 out of 27 EU countries utilize the euro as their national currency. Those who constitute the Eurozone, as it’s called, are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.