Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday his economic team agreed on 40 new measures for the South American nation intended to increase the supply of dollars and "reactivate" the local economy.
Chavez had been promising measures aimed at minimizing the impact of the global downturn, reversing Venezuela's second quarter contraction and closing the gap between the official and black market currency rates.
"We took 40 decisions last night . . . we will inform you in the next hours and days," he told reporters, saying the new measures would begin Oct. 1.
"I have given the green light for a plan to accelerate the supply of dollars and other measures."
Without giving details of new measures, Chavez confirmed an issue of foreign currency bonds previously approved by Venezuelan lawmakers.
"Yesterday, I signed the approval to place in the internal market 10 billion strong bolivars, that is to say $5 billion, and we will sell it in less than a month, because liquidity is very high," he said.
The economy of OPEC member Venezuela shrank 2.4 percent in the second quarter, the first contraction in more than five years as lower oil income hit spending.
Chavez said the new measures were intended to "ensure that the last quarter is one of reactivation."
The government has repeatedly said it wants to close the gap between the official rate for the Venezuelan bolivar — 2.15 per dollar — and the black market, where the local currency was trading at 5.55/5.65 on Thursday.
That gap propels already high inflation in the import-dependent nation as importers price products according to the black market rate. Allowing the local market to buy dollar-denominated bonds with bolivars creates an alternative exchange rate tool to meet demand.
© 2009 Reuters. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
|
