May 13, 2024, 4:00 AM
May 13, 2024, 4:00 AM
The Minister of Economy, Marcelo Montenegroadmitted yesterday that the economy would be better if there were no political frictions with former president Evo Morales. He blamed the former president for the drop in reserves and he responded that he believes that the Government even spent the Bolivians’ savings in the banks.
Montenegro outlined in an interview with state media that 2024 will be a positive year for Bolivia with industrialization, good agricultural year due to the recovery in production of soybeans and better international prices for this grain and minerals, such as tin.
He again gave growth figures, but this time he admitted: “We could be growing much more if there were not this complicated environment, if there were not this political environment of friction where obviously the wings ‘evista’, ‘camachista’ and ‘mesista’ are doing everything they can to hinder the economic management of President Luis Arce. We are not going to deny that.” Then he noted that “despite these inconveniences, the economy is stable, growing and the important thing is that we are industrializing it.”
He said that Bolivia industrialized more than any other previous government administration, with $225 million. “It is the economy that grew the most has in this area, we are dedicated to diversifying the economy and we are not at any time directing resources to build museums, courts, we do what is important.”
Evo Morales insists that there are no dollars, fuels and crises in imports and investment.
His faction in the Assembly slows down the approval of international credits, and that harms to the government of Luis Arce. Morales, for his part, denounces that Arce and his management are blocking his presidential candidacy in the 2025 elections.
In fact, Evo opened a new battle front yesterday. During his weekly radio program Kausachun Coca recalled that President Arce, in a meeting with journalists last Thursday, “he said that because of the road blockade there are no dollars. Because of the Assembly and the Senate there are no dollars, but when did the dollar problem start, in February of last year. “The blockade against self-extensions was in February of this year.”
The former president of Bolivia spoke about reservations. “On May 2, the Central Bank says that we have international reservesfor $us 1.8 billion, $us 1.6 billion is in gold and about $200 million in cash. On May 9, EL DEBER reported that the BCB owes $2,856 million to the banks and will return it in 2026.”
Then he complemented and questioned: “If the international reserves are $us 1,800 million and the BCB debt reaches $us 2,856 million. In my interpretation Bolivia does not have international reserves, we are bankrupt. Based on data we have collected, we calculate that the BCB has a debt that exceeds $3.3 billion. $us 500 million correspond to legal reserve, and $us 2,856 million from the BCB correspond to commercial banking. If now I want to withdraw my money in dollars from a financial institution, will I be able to? I don’t think so. I hope to be wrong. I ask Lucho to clarify where that money is from, is it from the bankers or from the people?Where does the money from the legal reserve come from?
He then stated that Bolivia “is worse than in neoliberal times, we never had negative international reserves. It is not to say that the BCB is a creditor. Let’s see physically, let them show us, don’t blame us,” he asserted. He also questioned: “Who disunited the Legislative Assembly, it was Lucho. He was better at the perks, the fight over hits, over charges. Some dispute political power, having economic power with corruption. Others fight for cargo and others unfortunately are in an internal dispute. Our private property and they spent the money we saved in the banks.”
The minister responded that “with responsibility, former President Morales should say that in his government a minister from the Hydrocarbons area told him that we were flooded in a sea of gas. And the truth is that the reserves were not replaced. Well, we had an important resource, on which many benefits were based. But his obligation was to replace them and he did not do so. The Luis Arce Government did take this need seriously, and will surely give good news about it“But the irresponsibility of the former president left us with this enormous deficit.”
Another element, said the minister, is that in 2018 Evo Morales called his cabinet to the residence along with several experts, “the president of the Central Bank at that time, the Minister of Economy, our president when he was not minister.oy expressed his concern about why they were falling reserves significantly. A year before resigning and leaving the country. But did he give him a solution? No. The solution is to industrialize the country, it is the most difficult but the correct path.”
The authority explained that in 2018 there were $8.9 billion in reserves. “In 2019 there were $6.4 billion. From $15 billion they had fallen to those figures. The adequate solution was not given at that time and unfortunately, we had this fall that the Central Bank has now stabilized. Industrialization projects will improve this situation”. He added that when Luis Arce came to power the reserves reached $4,449 million.
He insisted that the path is industrialization and import substitution “because that will save us foreign currency, it will give us jobs. Replace diesel with biodiesel with our plants in Santa Cruz, El Alto and ethanol will be important, which is generating a lot of investment. There is a mill that a week and a half ago announced an investment of $50 million to increase this production. All these elements will allow us to save foreign currency and the country continues buying fuel, paying for the lto external debt punctually and the solution we implemented is gradual, but it is the correct one, given the irresponsibility of not having applied solutions.”
He recalled another meeting at the BCB organized by the former vice president (Álvaro García Linera) where he obviously questioned why What was this drop in reserves like?. “Nor was an adequate solution taken then. We took it at the end of 2020.”
