Common Currency between Brazil and Argentina Is Being Worked on, Says Lula

President affirms that the project is necessary and will be discussed

Buenos Aires

President Lula stated that the common currency project between Brazil and Argentina is being worked on by both countries. The statement was given after an interview with the Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, in Buenos Aires this Monday (23). "I think that with time this [common currency] will happen, and it needs to happen," said Lula.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez attend a bilateral agreement signing ceremony, during Lula da Silva?s first official visit abroad since his inauguration, at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian - REUTERS

The idea is for the currency to be used in commercial transactions between countries. In other words, it is not a single currency – Brazil and Argentina would continue with their local currencies, the real and the peso. Lula says that the common currency project will be dealt with together with foreign trade proposals made by the economic teams of Argentina and Brazil. "If it were up to me, we would always have foreign trade in the currencies of other countries, so that we wouldn't have to depend on the dollar. Why not try to create a common currency between the two countries, or among the Brics countries?"

Translated by Cassy Dias

Read the article in the original language