The visit of the president of Brazil Inacio "Lula" Da Silva to Argentina revived a topic that generates a lot of interest, and a stir, and
that of a common currency
between both nations.
Even the leaders have already confirmed the news, and even the owner of Twitter and Tesla celebrated the initiative, and the government was quick to reply.
"Is Elon Musk talking about the talks with Brazil to move towards a single currency?
This visit by Lula is already giving the whole world something to talk about," government spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti tweeted.
The statements of the owner of Tesla for the project of the currency that would be called SUR
arose when the reply of the news reached the foreign press.
The Financial Times echoed it and the tycoon celebrated the idea.
"Probably a good idea,"
he tweeted.
Quick of reflexes, the government spokeswoman, Gabriela Cerruti, celebrated that tweet and wrote: “Is Elon Musk talking about the talks with Brazil to move towards a single currency?
Lula's visit is already making people talk all over the world”.
The Financial Times raised the issue on Sunday with statements by Economy Minister Sergio Massa.
"There will be a decision to start looking at the parameters needed for a common currency, including everything from fiscal issues to the size of the economy and the role of central banks," he said.
While he clarified: "I don't want to create false expectations."
"It is the first step on a long road that Latin America must travel
," said the head of the Treasury.
At the local level, the confirmation even came
through a column published
in the newspaper Perfil with
the signature of Alberto Fernández and Lula Da Silv
a, prior to the arrival of the Brazilian president in the country to hold a bilateral meeting with his Argentine counterpart and participate of the CELAC summit.
After various rumors, the presidents of Argentina and Brazil confirmed that they are advancing in the creation of
"a common South American currency"
that will work for "financial flows" and "commercial ones".
“We intend to overcome barriers to our exchanges, simplify and modernize
the rules, and encourage the use of local currencies,” they stated in the publication.
"The fluid and dynamic relationship between Brazil and Argentina is essential for the advancement of regional integration,"
stated the presidents.
A common currency after several failed attempts
The intention to give new impetus to the project of a common South American currency
comes after several attempts
to start working in this direction.
Lula Da Silva proposed it as soon as he was elected
for his first term, in 2002, it was resumed years later by the governments of Jair Bolsonaro and Mauricio Macri, and now Lula and Alberto Fernández dream of it.
The latest news had come just days after Lula Da Silva took office in Brazil.
The Argentine ambassador Daniel Scioli was received by the Brazilian Minister of Economy, Fernando Haddad,
and assured after the meeting that they had discussed a single currency project for trade within Mercosur.
He even clarified that
the project did not imply the disappearance of the currencies themselves
- the depreciated Argentine peso, the Brazilian real, the Paraguayan guaraní and the Uruguayan peso.
But he said that the unification of the currencies was sought for commercial transactions so as not to depend on the dollar.
The Argentines then argued that this would seek not to depend on the dollar and that it would imply evolution of the current Local Currency Payment System (SML), operated by the Central Bank.
Moreover, in the Argentine government and in the Ministry of Economy they assure that Haddad had already given a name to the new currency: "SUR".
However, a day later, on January 6, Haddad denied Scioli and the top brass of the Argentine government.
"There is no proposal for a single currency from Mercosur, you will find out first,"
said the Brazilian Minister of Economy in statements to the press.
Scioli's team had assured that Haddad's statements did not correspond to a denial and that the project would be part of the economic talks with Lula during his visit to Argentina.
NS
look too
Alberto Fernández and Lula da Silva confirmed that they are advancing in the creation of "a common South American currency" for bilateral trade
CELAC Summit: Lula Da Silva and Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived in Argentina