Proposed Brazil-Argentina common currency is met with doubts

By DAVID BILLER and ALMUDENA CALATRAVA
Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Market analysts are reacting with deep skepticism to a proposal floated by the leaders of Brazil and Argentina to launch a common currency. Economists say neither country is positioned to instill confidence in the idea. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told reporters Monday that a common trading currency would reduce a harmful dependence on the U.S. dollar. He and Argentine President Alberto Fernández say neither leader knows exactly how it would work out. There’s no chance they would ditch the Brazilian real or Argentine peso anytime soon. Critics say that even the euro has struggled for acceptance and they don’t see how this idea could instill confidence.