2023-08-22 07:26:28
Argentine President Alberto Fernández will not attend the XV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) because Argentina is not expected to join the bloc, as confirmed this Monday to EFE, official sources.
It was expected that the expansion of the group would be the main agenda, however, sources from the Argentine Foreign Ministry told EFE that the official entry into new countries is not on the conference agenda, despite the great expectations in this regard.
Faced with this situation, Fernández gave up the idea of moving to Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa, where the Government exercises the rotating presidency this year and since Tuesday the first face-to-face meeting will be held since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Some 23 nations have expressed formal interest in joining the BRICS, including Argentina, and this issue is likely to be raised next Thursday during the latest meetings known as “BRICS Africa Outreach” and “BRICS Plus Dialogue”, in which Foreign Minister Argentine Santiago Cafiero will participate virtually, the sources stressed.
For the South American country, it meant the chances of further expanding its commercial destinations, exports and with it the income of foreign currency, which it needs so badly to face the debts with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for some 45,000 million dollars.
Without the potential income, Argentina would not be able to access immediate loans from the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS, a bloc that represents more than 42% of the world population and 30% of the planet’s territory, as well as the 23 % of gross domestic product (GDP) and 18% of global trade.
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