Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino delivered the 2013 budget proposal to Congress today, giving the nation a peek into the executive branch’s vision for the coming year.

The proposal predicts an exchange rate of $5.10 to the dollar, growth at 3.4%, and growth in investment at 7.4%. The official inflation rate is estimated to hit 10.7% by the end of 2012 and 10.8% in 2013. Tax revenue is expected to total over $822bn, a 22.7% increase from 2012, reflecting at least in part, a rise in inflation. The trade surplus, according to official estimates, will be more than US$13bn.

The current policy of paying off foreign debt with reserves will be continued up until US$7.8bn. This cap exceeds the US$5.7bn paid in 2012 by 40% and 2011’s US$7.5bn by 5%.

Agustín Rossi, Congressional Head of the Frente para la Victoria (FPV), the same party to which President Cristina Fernández de Kircher belongs, was optimistic about the proposal. He applauded the continuation of “social investment” and debt reduction, and commented that the proposal used a “level of reasonable expectations” for growth. He predicted the Budget and Treasury Commission would begin to consider the proposal next Wednesday and that by late October, the congressional Lower House would have approved it and passed it to the Senate.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff unveiled yesterday an ambitious, long-term investment scheme for the country. The plan contemplates infrastructure investments for R$133bn (US$66.5bn), to be made within the next 25 years, to expand the road and railway networks.

The aim of the plan is threefold: to boost a stagnant economy, to adjust the country’s lagging infrastructure to its productive capacity, and to generate employment. Rousseff, a critic of the privatisations carried out by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso in the 1990′s, avoided the use of the term ‘privatisation’. However, the construction and operation of roads and railways will be granted to private investors.

Yesterday’s announcement is the first of three. On this first stage, investment will go towards building 75,000 km of roads, at a cost of US$21bn, and 10,000 km of railways, for US$45bn. Most of the money (US$39.7bn) will be invested within the first five years.

It is expected that the next two announcements will come within the next few weeks, and will tackle private investment on ports, airports, and electricity.

Analysts forecast that Brazil’s GDP will grow only 1.81% this year, down from 2.7% in 2011 and 7.5% in 2010. During the announcement, Rousseff said “We want Brazil to grow between 4.5 and 5% yearly. And for that, we hope to build an adequate environment for investment, not only now, but also in the medium term.”

The works will also create an estimated 150,000 direct jobs.

The government expects the tenders to be closed and the contracts awarded by June 2013.

In a ceremony this afternoon led by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the oil firm YPF announced the discovery of a massive shale gas reserve in the Neuquén Province.

“For the very first time, we won’t lose reserves, the production of the barrel has gone up”, said President Fernández “since the reserves are estimated to last for the following sixteen years, when the reserves were only for six years.”

The gas field, located in Neuquén at YPF’s Loma de la Lata conventional natural gas field is estimated to have reserves of more than fifty years. The find could help the country lower its import of the fuel.

The President went on to say that this discovery “allows us to be introduced like a country that keeps on growing and incorporating Argentine people to the production, work and consumption process.”

She stressed the importance of investing and creating growth and wealth in Argentina, and said today has a need for “the incorporation of Argentine business partners”, and that YPF “should leave by example and encourage others to incorporate investment and domestic capital.”

Sebastián Eskenazi, YPF’s vice-president announced the program Exploration and Production Development 2010-2014. This program will provide further insights into possible gas reserves in the country. He also announced that the discovery of such significant reserves of gas in the province is “the biggest investment in Argentina’s history.”

Brazil is to invest up to US$10 billion in the International Monetary Fund. The move is part of a united effort with the other ‘BRIC’ countries: Russia, India and China. The IMF’s Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, yesterday issued a statement welcoming the decision.

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantenga explained that Brazil is making this investment “so that the IMF has the financial resources to help emerging countries, which are facing a scarcity of capital due to the international crisis”.

This loan also marks great progress for South America’s largest economy. “The situation used to be the other way around; the IMF used to loan, to give help to Brazil, when it was a less stable country. Now Brazil has reached this stability and accumulated enough reserves to help the international community. It is an important step to become a creditor and not a debtor of the IMF,” said a triumphant Mantenga.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn declared yesterday, “With this announcement, Brazil is joining other countries in fulfilling the commitment of the G-20 leaders in April. The Brazilian authorities have shown great leadership and encouragement in the whole process of IMF reform and expansion of our funding…Brazil once more reaffirms its strong role as a leading emerging market economy.”

The Brazilian government is reported to have around US$200 billion in international reserves at the moment.

Mantenga added that China planned to invest US$50 billion and Russia US$10 billion. The ‘Bric’ countries plan to hold their first major summit in Russia next week. On their ambitious agenda will be ways to rescue the global financial system.