Bolivia said it had inked an agreement with China's Sinopharm locking in an initial supply of 500,000 doses of the company´s vaccine against coronavirus by the end of February. Bolivian President Luis Arce said China’s President Xi Jinping had agreed to sell Bolivia 400,000 doses and had donated another 100,000 doses to the South American nation.
Day: Feb 12, 2021
YPFB to invest $128.72 mn in household gas network
YPFB announced that by 2021 it has planned an investment of $128.72 million in the domestic gas network. The president of the state oil company said that it has already reached one million home connections and that since 2006 it has invested $1 billion in the network.
BOA cuts salaries and staff to cut costs by 30%.
Boliviana de Aviación (BOA) is implementing an austerity plan to reduce salaries and lay off workers, with the aim of making the state-owned airline's operations sustainable. He explained that the company aims to lower costs by 30% and thus achieve a profitability by 2022. He pointed out that the airline's operations were reduced by more than 40% on average due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
Restaurant turnover fell by 50% and supermarket sales by 13%.
Between November 2019 and November 2020, restaurant sales plummeted by 50% and supermarket turnover fell by 13%, according to data from the Ministry of Economy. Up to November 2020, restaurant turnover reached $314 million, while in the same period of 2019 sales were $627 million. In the case of supermarkets, turnover in 2019 was $737 million, but in 2020 it only reached $640 million.
VAT refund begins with 14,700 beneficiaries
President Luis Arce said that the 5% VAT refund has so far benefited 14,700 taxpayers. The measure to reimburse 5% of VAT invoices to those earning up to Bs.9,000 ($1,303.1) aims to stimulate domestic demand and contribute to the reactivation of the economy, hit by the COVID-19 crisis.
