Banana producers in Paraguay and Bolivia have agreed to resume shipments to Argentina after the outgoing administration of President Alberto Fernández authorized the use of foreign currency to pay for those imports.
Argentina's future government of President-elect Javier Milei intends to privatize the Paraná Paraguay Waterway and bidding documents have already been drafted, but collecting tolls would remain in place, it was reported Thursday in Buenos Aires. Future Infrastructure Minister Guillermo Ferraro is said to have been working on the issue for weeks.
The Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) lowered its benchmark interest rate from 8.50 to 7.25%, for a cumulative reduction of 1.25 basis points so far this year, in response to an encouraging macroeconomic scenario and positive international economic indicators. The decision was made after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) late Wednesday, it was reported in Asunción.
Paraguay's Agriculture Minister Carlos Giménez said Wednesday that he was seriously doubting there was such a thing as climate change. There have always been droughts and floods in Paraguay, he pointed out in a broadcast interview in Asunción.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña and Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei held a telephone conversation Monday during which they discussed bilateral issues. The Libertarian economist extended an invitation to Peña to attend his inauguration on Dec. 10 in Buenos Aires, which was accepted.
Paraguay and Venezuela agreed on Wednesday to resume diplomatic ties cut under former Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez in January 2019. At that time, the then-president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself president of a government that ended up in exile despite the backing of the international community and eventually vanished like a soap bubble.
Paraguayan exports totaled US$ 14.438 billion in the first ten months of 2023, a 23.6% improvement from the same period last year, a foreign trade report released by the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) showed.
Private economic studies published recently showed Paraguay was on an upward trajectory. According to Banco Itaú, the South American country's economic activity expanded in the second quarter of 2023 following the normalization of agricultural production after a severe drought last year. In this scenario, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection for the end of the year remained at 5.6%, the research showed.
A new organization for police cooperation on the American continent was agreed upon Thursday with the Treaty for the Constitution of the Police Community of America (Ameripol) which will act in line with Interpol criteria, Agencia Brasil reported.
The Culture Ministers of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) Thursday signed a declaration in Belém condemning racism, thus reaffirming the bloc's commitment to promoting ethnic-racial equality and combating racism in the region, Agencia Brasil reported.