In the last 11 months, the Net International Reserves (NIR) fell from $6.47 billion recorded as of December 31, 2019, to $5.15 billion as of November 2020, according to the latest official report of the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB). This fall is 20.3%, a lower figure than that predicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Author: beasouviron
At end-September, the BDP had provided $233.4 mn of loans to the agri-sector
According to data from the Banco de Desarrollo Productivo (BDP), up to the end of September 2020, its first-floor productive loan portfolio was Bs 2.36 billion ($338.4 mn), of which 69% went to the agricultural sector, for a value of $233.4 million.
Bolivia’s exports are 27% less than in 2019, with a value of $5.44 billion
Bolivian foreign sales totalled $5.44 billion, 27% less than the same period in 2019. Imports totalled $5.6 billion, 31% less than the same period last year. These values result in a negative trade balance of $168 million.
Karina Serrudo is the new President of the National Customs
The Minister of Economy and Public Finance, Marcelo Montenegro, on Tuesday, appointed Liliana Karina Serrudo Miranda as President of the National Customs. The authority has a degree in law and a master's degree in government management and public administration. She worked in the National Tax Service of the district of Tarija, was a summary lawyer of the National Tax Service, National Tax Service Chuquisaca, among other positions.
Underemployment grows 16.6% and affects 597 thousand people in the country
Unemployment caused by the economic slowdown before the pandemic and the impact of the health crisis is not the only problem facing the Bolivian economy, but also underemployment which, in the third quarter, shot up to 16.6% of the economically active population (EAP). In the case of women, it reaches 20% and in the case of men 14%. The EAP rises 3.6 million people in the country so that more than 597,000 people are currently underemployed.
INE says exports are down by $2 bn from Jan-Oct 2020
The fall in exports by more than two billion dollars until October should call for reflection. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Bolivia's trade balance registered a deficit of 168 million dollars as of October; while exports fell by 27%, and imports fell by 31% concerning the same period in 2019.
The internal debt of the Treasury began to rise in 2014 and shot up 46.5% in 2020
Until October 31, the internal debt of the National Treasury (TGN) reached Bs 64,887 million (Ch$9.3 bn). Since December of last year, this indicator shot up 46.52%, reaching 24% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In four years Saipina expanded its grape production to 120 hectares
The municipality of Saipina in Santa Cruz is the new pole of table grape production in the department, the area cultivated with grapes grew from 50 to 120 hectares in the last four years. The average output is between 25 and 30 tons of grapes per hectare. Seventy grape growers sell their offer in Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.
Bolivia registers more than 10 million internet connections
Until the first half of 2020, the country registered 10.4 million internet connections, according to the report State of the Internet in Bolivia. The report reveals that 91.99% of all internet connections established through 2.5G, 3G and 4G mobile access technologies.
Private businessmen ask for credits for $400 mn to pay Christmas bonus
Less than one month before the deadline established in the General Labor Law to pay the Christmas bonus until December 20, the Bolivian Institute of Foreign Trade (IBCE), proposes the Government to obtain a credit to leverage the payment of the Christmas bonus in the private sector of $400 million, via direct credit from the Union Bank or the Bank of Productive Development (BDP).
