• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 10 / 17 / 2010

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Bolivia will export rice to Cuba using the new Sucre currency mechanism.

State company Empresa de Apoyo a la Producción de Alimentos (Emapa) will sell $6 million worth of rice to Cuba and Venezuela, the Bolivian government announced.

Bolivia and Cuba will use the Sucre compensation mechanism, which pegs the currencies of participating ALBA nations to each other at a fixed rate. Using the Sucre allows to circumvent the use U.S. dollars or euros, thus reducing the cost of transactions.

During a recent cash crunch, Cuba, a major rice importer has bought the grain exclusively from Vietnam and China, which offer long-term financing and low prices. Bolivia expects to export 56,000 tons of rice this year.

Meanwhile, Cuba stopped buying rice from the United States, which had risen earlier this decade to become the island's No. 1 food supplier. U.S. restrictions force Cuba to pay cash in advance for U.S. agricultural products.

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/118539