The President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, gave an interview to the Argentine media LN+, part of the La Nación group, and assured that the US dollar (USD), in reference to the Uruguayan peso (UYU), is “very low”.
“There is a cable car that nobody goes to the other side. There is also certainty, and certainty breeds trust. And above confidence walks hope. So we talk about the virtuousness of caring for public finances, which is not because we want to be the best in the class and be evaluated by risk rating agencies. It’s because that makes people trust the economic system,” she said.
“If you don’t know how much the peso is going to be, how much the dollar is going to be… today we actually have a problem with the dollar, we have to accept it,” said the right-wing president.
“The Uruguayan currency has appreciated a lot. Because? Record exports, luckily a good tourist season, so the refuge currency that was the dollar is not being so sought after, many (dollars) are coming in, and today the peso has appreciated”he went on.
MERCOSUR currency
He added that these circumstances are “in some way threatening competitiveness, especially those items that are managed or charged in dollars, such as the agricultural business.”
Regarding the proposal for a common currency for MERCOSUR, he commented: “What is not possible is to have a common currency. It’s crazy.” And he added that he would “sleep easy” if central banks established floating bands with floors and ceilings, in a kind of semi-controlled free market.
