Argentines pawn family jewels to make ends meet

Argentines pawn family jewels to make ends meet

BUENOS AIRES — In Argentina’s strangled economy, one sector is thriving: the pawn shops buying up gold and other family treasures that many are forced to sell to pay their bills. “When you are drowning in debt, sentimentality falls to the side,” said Mariana, 63, who went to a hub of gold dealerships in Buenos Aires to sell a watch her grandfather gave her father as a graduation present. Inflation of around 270 percent year-on-year has gnawed aw…

In Argentina, the decline in purchasing power, strangled by chronic inflation and a brutal devaluation of the peso in December, is pushing more people to sell watches or gold jewelry to cover everyday expenses. In a recession-hit Argentina, with anemic activity, a thriving trade: selling the grandfather's watch or the great-grandmother's brooch. A family heirloom liquidation increasingly necessary to make ends meet. 'When debts choke you, you pu…

Argentines pawn family jewels to make ends meet

Argentines pawn family jewels to make ends meet Estelle.Bronkhorst Tue, 06/18/2024 - 05:00 BUENOS AIRES - In Argentina's strangled economy, one sector is thriving: the pawn shops buying up gold and other family treasures that many are forced to sell to pay their bills."When you are drowning in debt, sentimentality falls to the side," said Mariana, 63, who went to a hub of gold dealerships in Buenos Aires to sell a watch her grandfather …