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🇧🇴 Bolivia /Economy & Trade

In Desaguadero, the sol displaces the boliviano and hits border trade

From El Deber · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • The sol has risen from about 0.82 bolivianos in September 2023 to roughly 3.60 to 3.71 at the Bolivia-Peru border this month.
  • The boliviano’s decline has reduced commercial activity in Desaguadero and prompted some Peruvian traders to favor or reject payments in the Bolivian currency.
  • The shift followed Bolivia’s move to a flexible exchange-rate regime after the central bank said fixed parity had become untenable amid depleted reserves and rising demand for foreign currency.

In Desaguadero, the Peruvian sol is pushing the boliviano out of everyday border commerce. A sol that cost about 0.82 bolivianos in September 2023 now changes hands for roughly 3.60 to 3.71 bolivianos in the frontier area. The Central Bank of Bolivia recorded an indicative rate of 3.74 bolivianos per sol on Monday.

The change has sharply weakened the Bolivian currency’s purchasing power. In 2023, one boliviano bought about 1.22 soles. Today, it buys close to 0.27 soles. Traders say the effect is visible in Desaguadero, one of the main commercial exchange points between Bolivia and Peru.

The busiest trading days remain Tuesdays and Fridays, when traditional fairs bring merchants and shoppers across the border in both directions. But vendors describe a marked slowdown. “It used to be packed. Tuesdays were regular, but now they are not even regular,” one trader said.

The problem is not only the number of customers. The currency’s loss of value has changed how transactions are made. Peruvian merchants increasingly prefer the sol, and some have stopped accepting bolivianos altogether. The shift is altering commercial flows and creating new incentives for smuggling.

The sol’s value against the boliviano has moved sharply since 2023. It reached 2.81 bolivianos in September 2024 and 4.69 in May 2025, before falling to 3.37 in September that year and 2.97 in June 2026. It rose to 3.59 in August and now trades around 3.60 to 3.71 at the border.

The changes coincide with Bolivia’s transition to a flexible exchange-rate system. On June 29, the central bank introduced a new official rate and abandoned the fixed-parity system. The bank said the previous arrangement had lost consistency because of depleted international reserves, growing demand for foreign currency and the expansion of the parallel market. The official dollar rate rose from 6.96 bolivianos early in the year to an average of 10.81 in July and 11.82 in August.

It used to be packed. Tuesdays were regular, but now they are not even regular.

· Unidentified traderA merchant described the decline in activity at the Desaguadero border market.
About this summary

Originally published by El Deber in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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