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Economists Laugh Off South America’s Common Currency Idea

  • Brazil, Argentina are relaunching talks on common currency
  • Idea faces many practical obstacles before becoming reality
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Alberto Fernandez during a press conference at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires on Jan. 23.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Alberto Fernandez during a press conference at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires on Jan. 23.Photographer: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images
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Top economists dismissed the creation of a common currency by Argentina and Brazil, saying the idea floated by the presidents of both countries on Sunday faces too many practical obstacles for it to become reality. 

Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz SE and Bloomberg Opinion columnist, wrote on Twitter that South America’s two largest economies are in no position to make the idea succeed given their current conditions, and that the implementation of a common currency is “far from probable.”