Information regarding Bolivia’s productive sector and the country’s macroeconomy.
Amid an adverse context, alcohol exports increased 29% in value and 25% in volume, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Until May, external sales reached $22 million. For this year the industries foresee to produce 180 million litres.
The Governor’s Office of Santa Cruz and the region’s private businessmen agreed on Monday to restart more than 30 public works to reactivate the economy in the eastern part. The departmental government will pay the bills due until March. It expects that the reactivation will generate a movement of Bs 100 million ($14.49 mn).
The government said on Monday that the road blockades in the country to date had caused economic damage of 700 million Bolivians ($100 million). It produced a shortage of food, as well as medical supplies such as oxygen and drugs.
The Government agreed to disburse Bs 70 million ($10 mn) from the Indigenous Development Fund (FDI) program for productive projects begun in 2017 and 2018, with work progressing 60% and more.
July registered inflation of 0.14% mainly due to the increase of prices in the health (2.43%) and transportation (1.19%) divisions, informed the National Statistics Institute (INE). With such variation, the accumulated rate in seven months reaches 0.92%, and annualized inflation is 1.35%. The rise has moderate behaviour and is in line with the budgets of the Monetary Program that establishes a rate of 3.4% for 2020.
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) presented the report of national economic performance, among which stands outgrowth of 0.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the first quarter of 2020. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) warned yesterday that countries dependent on mining, gas (which includes Bolivia) and oil exports had a substantial drop of 25.8%. The report points out that international trade in Latin America and the Caribbean could fall 23% in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which will also cause a decline in imports from the region.
The national economy is going through a hard time due to the pandemic and social conflicts. A slowdown in economic growth observed, reaching 2.2% in 2019. The fiscal deficit that same year was 7.2% of the GDP and the trade balance closed with a shortage of 3.3%. Reserves decreased from 51% of the GDP in 2012 to 16% of the GDP in 2019 ($6.47 billion). External debt increased by 26% of the GDP. The National Institute of Statistics reports that unemployment as of June 2020 rose to 9.6%, from 4.8% at the end of 2019. The National Chamber of Commerce (CNC) announced that losses, from all sectors, could reach $3 billion by the end of the year.
After the signing of the eighth addendum to the natural gas purchase agreement signed between YPFB and Petrobras, the Bolivian state oil company had stopped receiving monthly payments of $5.34 million for transporting the energy between the Rio Grande and Puerto Suarez (Mutun), on the border with Brazil, a cost that before the signing of the new agreement was paid by the Brazilian oil company. In 142 days, from March 11 to July 31, the Bolivian state oil company has already lost $25.3 million. Until the end of the year, the economic impact would be about $52.5 million.
The national government assured a fund of Bs 300 million ($43.1 mn) for the advance payment of the Renta Dignidad bonus. The necessary resources are available to meet the benefit, which can be collected since August and will reach more than 870,000 elderly adults in the national territory.
According to data from the Financial System Regulatory Authority (ASFI), as of May this year, the financial system was reprogrammed with Bs 5.8 billion ($834 mn), almost double the amount readjusted in 2019. The growth occurs in challenging context due to the health emergency that the country is experiencing due to the coronavirus pandemic, in which the Legislative Assembly approved bill 720/2019 for the automatic deferral of credit payments to banks until December 31 this year.
