Comprising:
PARAGUAY NOW FOR THE HARD PART
Paraguay has achieved a lot in the last decade. A raft of laws to underpin the management of its economy – such as inflation targeting and the fiscal responsibility law – created a stable macro-economic environment just before the commodities bust that sent other economies in the region into a downward fiscal spin.
“It was a perfect storm,” says Benigno López, Paraguay’s minister of finance, of last year’s economic headwinds. A drought, then flood, combination hit production in the agricultural and protein sectors – still two of the most important sectors for the country’s economy, despite a drive for industrial diversification.
As October 2019 was nearing its end, the focus for Argentina – and for many international investors interested in the region – was on the final head-to-head presidential election, scheduled for Sunday October 27.
BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTH
Once seen as isolated and hostile to foreign investment, Paraguay now portrays itself as being at the centre of Latin America, trading on its strengths as a low-cost location on the fringe of the vast Brazilian market.
Published in conjunction with:
Banco Basa, Banco Central del Paraguay, Itaipu Binacional, Ministerio de Hacienda, Ministerio de Industria y Comercio, Secretaria de Tributacion