Bolivia's Senate granted final legislative approval to a 1.9 billion dollar loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund to address an acute fiscal and currency crisis.
The parliamentary ratification concludes months of negotiations by President Rodrigo Paz's administration, which seeks to restore depleted foreign exchange reserves and stabilize basic commodity markets. Economy Minister Christian Morales emphasized that securing the three-year financing program unlocks access to roughly five billion dollars in complementary credit from multilateral lenders like the World Bank. Under the terms of the agreement, the Bolivian government must enforce fiscal discipline, introduce foreign exchange flexibility, and phase out expensive public fuel subsidies.
The scheduled elimination of domestic diesel and gasoline price supports has ignited vehement opposition from organized labor unions and transport associations threatening nationwide blockades. In anticipation of potential civil unrest, lawmakers simultaneously extended emergency executive powers to allow security forces to maintain public order and keep transit corridors open.