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© Reuters. File image of Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
By Lisandra Paraguassu
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad downplayed the idea of a shared single currency between Argentina and Brazil late on Sunday, saying the countries are looking for ways to stimulate bilateral trade , but not to extinguish their own currencies.
His remarks came after Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernández published a joint article saying their goal of further economic integration included studying a common South American currency.
Haddad, who raised that possibility in an article last year, said removing trade barriers between South America’s two largest economies could mean using a single currency for trade, given Argentina’s lack of dollars. But that does not mean the end of the Brazilian real, he said.
“Trade is very bad and the problem is precisely the foreign currency, right? So we are trying to find a solution, something in common that can make trade grow,” Haddad told the media upon his arrival in Buenos Aires before of Lula’s first international trip since his inauguration on January 1.
As he indicated, Argentina’s trade with Brazil had suffered due to the lack of dollars in the southern neighbor, where an economic crisis has left the government struggling to replenish foreign currency reserves, with an inflation rate of almost 100%. last year.
Haddad said that Argentina is a major buyer of Brazilian industrial products and that “several possibilities” are being considered to overcome its currency problems, although no decision had been made.
Asked if he could elaborate on the foreign exchange issue, Haddad confirmed that he would clarify the matter in the coming days, ironically adding: “especially since there are those who say that the real is going to run out.”
Earlier on Sunday, Lula and Fernández said in an article published on the Argentine website Perfil that they would “advance discussions on a common South American currency that can be used for both financial and trade flows.”
The Financial Times newspaper had previously reported, citing Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa, that neighboring nations would announce this week the start of preparatory work on a common currency.
(Written by Gabriel Araujo; edited in Spanish by Carlos Serrano)
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