South America’s two biggest economies will discuss the plan at a summit in Buenos Aires. The initial focus will be on how a new currency, which Brazil suggests calling the “sur” (south), could boost regional trade and reduce reliance on the US dollar. A currency union that covered all of Latin America would represent about 5 per cent of the global GDP.
however, Trade between Brazil and Argentina is flourishing, reaching $26.4bn in the first 11 months of last year, up nearly 21% in the same period in 2021. A Brazilian finance ministry spokesperson said he did not have information about a working group on a common currency.
There will be a concern in Brazil about the idea of hitching Latin America’s biggest economy to that of its perennially volatile neighbour. Latin America’s top economic and political leaders are meeting in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, to discuss how to strengthen regional value chains and push for a common currency. CELAC was founded in 2010 to help Latin American and Caribbean governments coordinate policy without the US or Canada. It is the only such pan-regional integration body which has survived as others fell by the wayside.
