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Bolivia is determined to curb dependence on the US dollar for foreign trade and will turn to the Chinese yuan, officials say, after the country faced months of severe US dollar shortages, driven in part by falling natural gas production.
Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said the country was following “a pattern at the level of international trade that is generating a progressive increase in the use of the yuan in foreign trade.”
“Banana, zinc, and wood manufacturing exporters are conducting transactions in yuan, as well as importers of vehicles and capital goods,” Montenegro said.
“China has become the world’s largest exporter. And in what currency would a large exporter want to receive everything it produces? Not in dollars, but in its own currency,” he said.
Bolivia conducted financial operations amounting to 278 million Chinese yuan ($38.7 million) from May to July, which accounts for 10 percent of Bolivia’s foreign trade during the period, according to Montenegro.
Prior to Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil had already initiated the use of yuan in their trading settlements. Argentina in April announced plans to use Chinese currency yuan to pay for goods imported from China; while Brazil in February signed a memorandum of cooperation with China to establish yuan clearing arrangements in Brazil.