Haddad says the government is studying how to circumvent Argentina’s currency restrictions to increase trade – 01/23/2023 – Market

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, said on Sunday (22) that the Brazilian government is studying alternatives to circumvent Argentina’s currency restrictions and increase trade between the two countries, which could include the use of a single currency for commercial transactions. , although there is still no definition.

“It is very bad [o comércio] and the problem is exactly the currency, right? That’s why we’re racking our brains to find a solution. Something in common, something that allows for an increase in trade, because Argentina is one of the countries that buy manufactured goods from Brazil and our exports here are falling”, said the minister upon arriving in Buenos Aires.

Haddad is part of the entourage for the official visit to Argentina by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is spending the next two days in the country.

In an article published on the Argentine site Perfil, Lula and the president of the country, Alberto Fernández, cited the beginning of conversations for the adoption of a common South American currency for commercial transactions.

“We also decided to move forward in discussions about a common South American currency that can be used for both financial and commercial flows, reducing operating costs and reducing our external vulnerability”, says the text, which caused turbulence due to the understanding that the two countries would be planning to adopt a common currency in all senses, which Haddad denies. According to him, there are no talks to create a single currency.

When asked if he could talk more about the subject in the coming days, Haddad replied yes, and ironized: “Even because they are saying that the real thing will end.”

The negotiation, he explained, is currently going through resolving Argentina’s foreign exchange difficulties, which today have only around US$ 40 billion in reserves and, therefore, problems importing, which directly harms Brazil, its main trading partner. in the region.

“It goes through circumventing their difficulty [argentinos]. We are thinking about several possibilities”, said the minister, recalling that he had already had more than one conversation with the Argentine Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, to address the matter.

In 2022, Brazilian exports to Argentina reached US$ 15.3 billion, 29% more than in the previous year. Even so, they have not yet returned to the values ​​of 2017, when they reached US$ 17.6 billion.