19 may 2011

Bank of the South to begin this year

Caracas, 18 May. AVN .- The Bank of the South would begin working this year, even before its constitution, informed last Tuesday the head of Ecuador"s presidential commission to design the new regional financial architecture, Pedro Paez, reported Ecuadorean news agency Andes.

The proposal was raised by Ecuador and it envisages to carry out projects by means of a trust. “It would consist of a trust for each project,” said Paez, who detailed that there are plans to construct a system of Latin American laboratories which guarantee health for people.”

This project in particular aims at producing generic medicines with the possibility of financing researches about cures for diseases such as leishmaniasis, tuberculosis and malaria, which have not been treated by transnational companies because “they are not profitable.”

There are other initiatives such as constructing micro-regional silos controlled by sectional producers and governments, connected by internet.

That plan aims at establishing a strategic reserve of staple foods to attend the population during eventualities such as drought, earthquakes or floods.

Currently, the creation of the Bank of the South has been confirmed by the parliaments of Ecuador and Venezuela, it is still pending the approval of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Chairman of the board of directors of Ecuador"s Central Bank, Diego Borjas, expressed the regional entity should be officially created before the end of this year, one the remaining parliaments approved their incorporation.

“We hope that Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina will solve this situation very soon,” Paez said.