“Brazil and Argentina’s Geopolitical Meeting: Finalizing Export Financing Agreement and Reducing Dependence on Dollars – Insights from Minister Sergio Massa’s Visit”

2023-05-02 05:47:55

The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, will travel to Brazil this Tuesday accompanying President Alberto Fernández in a geopolitical meeting in which the head of the Palacio de Hacienda will have a central objective: finalize the agreement so that Brazilians finance their exports to the country and Argentina uses fewer dollars, in the midst of a drought that shakes the balance of payments. Specifically, and as this newspaper learned, Brazil would finance an export that will be paid directly in pesos to Brazilian companies, which will then convert those pesos into reais to cover the financed debt.

The issue -which was discussed in previous meetings within the framework of the Celac meeting and during the meeting of Massa and his Brazilian counterpart, Fernando Haddad, at the G20 in India- also admits a geopolitical reading of Massa’s movements in full dollar crisis: after the game to release advance funds from the Monterio Fund (IMF) via the United States, made a yuan swap with China and now opens the table with Brazil, two of the countries that came a few months ago working as a bloc.

According to what they told Page I12 sources of the official entourage, Massa will travel with his chief of staff, Leonardo Madcur, and with the vice president of the Central Bank (BCRA), Lisandro Cleri. There he will have bilateral meetings with various leaders and businessmen, but specifically they admit to the government that “four options are being negotiated against the clock with Haddad, Galípolo and Geraldo Alkmin, Lula’s vice president.” Gabriel Galipolo is the executive secretary of the Treasury and who carries out the operational part of what he himself usually describes as “an export credit.” In contact with the Brazilian media, Galipolo spoke of financing for Brazilian companies that export to Argentina. The leader assured that there are some 210 companies, mostly industrial.

The idea of ​​both countries that these four options that are on the table “advance quickly and with a forceful scheme of support for the Argentine economy.” Fast forward has to do with Massa seeks more than IMF dollars to stabilize reserves. China’s gesture of replacing 1 billion dollars of Chinese imports with yuan was already relevant, and it is sought that the trading partner and neighboring country expedite similar values.

Political definitions

Brazil seems to have understood that supporting Argentina in this context is also political. Galipolo told the Brazilian press that during the governments of Michel Temer and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil stopped financing its exports and compensation mechanisms with Argentina, which allowed China to advance as the main seller of Argentines.

“In the last five years, due to Brazil’s lack of mechanisms to finance Brazilian exports and Argentine imports, we have lost approximately 6 billion dollars of space in the trade balance with Argentina to China, which has been providing mechanisms of financing in alternative means of payment, such as swap, or giving credit to the exporter,” the official told the GloboNews news network.

Last Thursday Massa spoke about foreign trade with Brazil with local businessmen. He raised the idea of ​​expediting imports and exports from that country and working on consolidating the commercial relationship.

During the meeting at the Palacio de Hacienda, Massa was accompanied by the Secretary of Commerce, Matías Tombolini; the head of the Cabinet of Advisors of the economic portfolio, Leonardo Madcur; the General Director of Customs, Guillermo Michel; and the director of INDEC, Marco Lavagna, informed the Palacio de Hacienda.

Among the businessmen were Rodrigo Pérez Graziano (Peugeot Argentina); Sebastián Bonetto (Administrative Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market); Juan Lozano (CNH Argentina); Rodrigo Weisburd (John Deere Industries Argentina); Sergio Fernández (John Deere Industries Argentina); Luz Elena Jurado (Volvo); Ricardo Fernández Pancelli (BASF Argentina); and Carlos Galmarini (Ford Argentina). Also Javier Madanes Quintanilla (Aluar Aluminio Argentino and Siderca); Alejandro Gentile (Techint Group); Ricardo Flammini (Nissan Argentina); Martin Zuppi (FCA Argentina); Sergio Perez Jimenez (Acindar); Alejandro Pastore (Ferrosider); Natalia Giraud (Unilever of Argentina); and Rodolfo Sánchez Moreno (Ball Envases de Aluminio).

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