Bolivians go for Euros

Bolivia’s Banco Bisa has started offering short term euro-denominated debt on the local market as investors look to diversify out of weakening dollars and inflation-eroded bolivianos. It sold last week a EUR7.5m 181-day note through Bisa Bolsa on the Bolsa Boliviana de Valores at 3.50%, in what the bank says is the first deal of its kind for LatAm. Bisa is supported by Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank in its push to offer more euro product. “The market is starting to ask for euros,” says Pablo Irusta Zambrana, head of international business and money markets at Bisa. The plan is to offer more. “We as a bank want to issue more or less EUR30m next year,” Irusta tells LatinFinance. There is some EUR20m in fixed term deposits in the Bolivian market, he adds. Banco Bisa’s “Euro Campaign” offers retail accounts starting at EUR200 in size for Bolivians looking to protect savings against currency swings.