President Rodrigo Paz is seeking to open up the economy through a new Investment Law that he is expected to introduce in Congress today, as well as a series of legislative steps to reform the country’s state-centric approach to the energy and mining sectors. Paz also hopes to secure a $1.9 billion IMF loan program over three years, which could unlock billions of dollars of additional multilateral funds.
Bolivia’s GDP is expected to contract by more than 3 percent this year, but that is just one of several problems facing Paz. His initiatives face an uphill climb in a fractured Congress, and he has already weathered two rounds of protests over his economic policies in just nine months since taking office. As James Bosworth put it in a WPR column in May, “The president who came to power hoping to fix the economic crisis he inherited must now escape the political crisis his reforms have helped to create.”
According to analysts, the congressional vote over his reform agenda will be a test for his political footing, while opposition groups threatening to take to the streets again in October could further test his government’s staying power.
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