“CBDC to Aid Taxation” Argentina’s Central Bank Backs Massa’s Plan For a Digital Peso

Argentina’s central bank has expressly backed Sergio Massa’s bid to roll out a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) if elected President.

Juan Agustín D’Attellis Noguera, a director of Banco Central de la República Argentina explained that a ‘digital peso’ will offer multiple benefits for the country as the economy battles hyperinflation. 

Speaking with a local media outlet he pushed CBDC to aid in a new tax regime leveraging blockchain technology to trace transactions.

“By having traceability of operations with a digital currency because it is not known who does them, but there is evidence that they were done, you broaden the tax base. This will allow you to raise more without having to raise taxes and even lower them.”

The bank's executive notes that the digital currency would be rolled out in phases. At first, it will co-exist with fiat as pilots will be conducted involving both the private and public sectors before a total replacement of fiat.

With yearly inflation figures above 100%, the government is scheming on various ways the peso can rival the dollar as a payment method. 

A plan to increase taxes amidst economic hardships will be a huge strain on the people occasioning the alternative of widening the tax net to include other sectors of the economy. 

BTC v CBDC: Argentina’s perspective 

As the country’s general election nears, inflation is at the top of every candidate's campaign after years of skyrocketing prices and a weak local currency. 

Massa who serves as the Minister for the Economy has proposed CBDCs to tighten monetary policies and to rival the plot of Bitcoin backers in the age of digital cross-border payments. 

“We are going to launch the digital currency in Argentina. We are going to do it globally for all of Argentina accompanied by a laundering law that allows those who have money abroad to bring it and use it freely without new taxes in parallel.”

His main rival Javier Milei who maintains a slight lead at the polls is a pro-bitcoin (BTC) candidate who has criticized the country’s central bank for being docile as hyperinflation ravages the country. 

Milei also proposed a total scrap of the central bank leaning towards dollarization noting that fiat is a tool for the government to get richer at the expense of the people. 

Massa and the present government have completely debunked any talk of dollarization calling on patriots to defend the country. 

“Dollarization is what generates the temptation of the dollar. Be patriots and defend our currency, do not promote the use of it.”