Argentine nervous savers withdrew 522 million dollars in the last week
Foreign-currency deposits fell to 10.52 billion on June 15, the central bank said in a report Friday. Those deposits are overwhelmingly US dollars, which Argentines view as a safe haven amid times of economic uncertainty.
The loss of dollar deposits still isn't a serious threat to banks, as they represent less than 10% of their total deposit base.
However, the dwindling stock of dollar deposits likely will make export financing more expensive. The outflows also have dented the central bank's international reserves.
As of June 15, more than 5.5 billion in foreign-currency deposits had left the banking system since President Cristina Fernandez imposed exchange controls on Oct. 31, 2011, to limit capital flight that was draining reserves.