The Financial System Oversight Authority (Asfi) reported on Friday that over the past nine years, funding towards women increased by 304%, ranging from $1.6 billion in 2010 to $6.5billion until August 2019. Asfi points out that today women account for nearly 40% of the system’s borrowers, thus closing the gap between men and women having the same access to financial services.
The World Bank (WB) published its latest biannual report “Latin America and the Caribbean: Trade integration as a path to development?” where it estimates a 3.9% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for Bolivia as well as predicts slow growth for the region. According to the WB, the “disappointing” performance is partly due to the three largest economies in the region experiencing challenging times. In fact, Argentina is in an economic crisis, Brazil is coming out of recession and Mexico is suffering from an economic slowdown. According to the BM projections, Bolivia will present the highest level of growth, followed by Colombia with 3.3%; Chile 2.5%, Brazil 0.9%, while Argentina has a decrease of -3.1% as does Ecuador -0.1% of its GDP.
After three years, the expansion of the airport is expected to become a reality. $280 million investment is estimated. The announcement of the winning company, which will be responsible for executing the work, will be made this Monday.
Perspectives: 2019 is a grey year for the production sector. Crop yields, such as wheat and soybeans, fell 40%. As a result, the producers ran out of funds.
“The situation is complicated and difficult,” said Bolivia’s Port Services Administration (ASP-B) Manager David Sánchez. Just before accusing Chile of violating the 1904 Peace Treaty by allowing a private company to unilaterally raise the port rates in Arica by 200%.
According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bolivia generates 850 million US dollars annually in revenue; a growth three times more than recorded in any other Latin American countries. This implies that Bolivia is growing at an annual rate of 9.8% in tourism.
According to data prepared by the Bolivian Institute for Foreign Trade (IBCE), based on the report of the National Statistical Institute (INE), during the first quarter of 2019, the Bolivian state spent $530.4 million in purchases of gasoline and diesel; an increased of $147 million compared to a similar period in 2018, when $383.4 million was eroded.
Rolando Kempff, President of the National Chamber of Commerce (CNC), highlighted the benefits of new markets for Bolivia following the European Union’s agreement with Mercosur. On the diplomatic agenda, it recommended that the country adhere to this process and negotiate the items it considers to affect Bolivian trade.
Under the ‘Bolivia in the age of biofuels’ programme, it was agreed to produce 80 million litres of ‘green fuel’ to mix as an additive with petrol and to reduce the import of petrol, which represents, by value, savings for Bs 400 million. The Agricultural Chamber of the East (CAO) through its general manager, Edilberto Osinaga, stated that if the ethanol 92 project was not launched in the national market, the sugar sector would have faced a crisis worse than the one impacted the soybean sector.
In the midst of criticism for the reduction in the economic resources generated by gas, President Evo Morales called on state oil company YPFB and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to insist on the exploration of new deposits in non-traditional areas such as North La Paz and Beni.
