On Monday, 28 August, Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa, on a visit to Brazil, said the two countries had reached an agreement to provide $600 million to finance Brazilian exports to the neighbouring country. Massa met with Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Planalto Palace.

“The Bank of Brazil will guarantee Brazilian exports, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) will in turn give the necessary guarantees to the Bank of Brazil. As the minister said, when you export auto parts to Argentina, you guarantee Argentina an inflow of foreign exchange. CAF has found a way to restore trade flows without Argentina giving up its yuan reserves,” said Brazil’s finance minister.

According to Sergio Massa, the procurement guarantee mechanism involves co-operation between the Bank of Brazil, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the Latin American and Caribbean Development Bank (CAF).

Massa also said the Brazilian government has resumed talks to expand river exchanges between the countries, as reported by Brasil 247, a partner of TV BRICS.

“We have renewed the joint Brazilian-Argentine initiative to continue building our river fleets, our river trading fleets. A process that Brazil and Argentina have been setting up for 20 years,” he emphasised.

Massa also recognised that Argentina’s entry into the BRICS bloc (a group consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) was a “big step”.

“It is a huge step that we took at the regional level when the association countries invited Argentina to join BRICS. This is a proposal and initiative that Lula made,” he recalled.

Photo: Brasil 247