Analysts knock down South American currency

Question of benefits: Lula and his wife Rosangela Silva form a heart at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia. Analysts are questioning whether a common currency would benefit Brazil at all, in the wake of its currency outperforming the US dollar. — AP

NEW YORK: South America is not likely to have a common currency bloc to rival the euro any time soon, analysts say, despite excited chatter sparked by officials in Brazil and Argentina raising the prospect of a shared tender.

On Monday, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez said they were in early talks to establish a shared unit of value for bilateral trade, though this would not replace the real or peso currencies.