Official figures indicate that the lack of hydrocarbon exploration in the past has caused the state to import more diesel and petrol, with an expenditure of more than 2.8 billion dollars.

On Monday, Bolivian President Luis Arce called on the population to unite around a group of government initiatives to solve the lack of dollars and fuel shortages currently affecting the country.

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‘We have lived through difficult times and we have faced great challenges that we have overcome throughout our history, and we are also going to overcome this one united, and for this we need the help of all Bolivians,’ said the president.

In a special televised address, the president mentioned among the causes of these problems the lack of hydrocarbon exploration, the historic private trade deficit, the increase in the price of freight, climate damage and international inflation.

According to the president, all this was compounded by the blocking of foreign loans in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, which prevented the injection of more than a billion dollars into the domestic economy.

Official figures indicate that the lack of hydrocarbon exploration in the past has caused the state to import more diesel and petrol, with an expenditure of more than 2.8 billion dollars.

Private imports, meanwhile, have a negative balance of minus 2.349 billion dollars, which the public sector is unable to cover, as it has historically done in the past, due to hydrocarbon problems.

In this context, foreign debt servicing increased, and this difficulty was compounded by the blockage in the legislature, which prevented the state from receiving less income from credits than it pays in capital and interest.

Faced with this negative outlook, Arce explained, the national government is implementing an aggressive hydrocarbon exploration policy, which has already yielded results such as the discovery of the Mayaya X1 well in the north of the department of La Paz, and the promotion of biodiesel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) plants.

According to the president’s calculations, the government initiatives underway will make it possible to replace 90 percent of current hydrocarbon imports, while work is underway with the private sector on actions that will contribute to reversing the trade deficit.

These measures include the establishment of a Single Window for Foreign Trade, which reduces the paperwork required for exports from three months to five days.

At the same time, bureaucratization for fuel imports by the private sector was eliminated, the fight against diesel smuggling was reinforced, as well as the introduction of export incentives.

Restrictions on the use of cryptocurrencies and the continuation of industrialization with import substitution were also lifted.

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