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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Venezuela Temporarily Halts Trading in its own Bonds |
| 2010-05-18 |
| CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan authorities temporarily halted the trading of government bonds on Tuesday and said they would seek to control Venezuela's currency exchange rates by setting a range of permitted prices in the bond market. The government is worried because the rising price of dollars on the parallel market increases the cost of consumer goods in Venezuela, which imports more than half the products it consumes despite Chavez's efforts to boost domestic production. Some things are beyond the reach of even the craftiest dictator. Maybe Chavez can consult Noam Chomsky on how to make Venezuelan currency more valuable. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #3 Geez, Hugo, looks like your socialist utopia is all turning to shit. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-05-18 23:07 |
| #2 consequences for decisions? How un-Bolivarian! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-05-18 23:03 |
| #1 There was a report that Chavez was raiding currency exchange outlets and confiscating their forex. Currency collapse is imminent. Venezuelan authorities formally suspended trading in the unofficial "parallel" foreign exchange market yesterday. The move sparked fears that imports could grind to a halt, fuelling already high inflation and widespread shortages. In a bid to stem the sharp depreciation in the bolivar this year, officials announced plans to introduce a new trading band for the hitherto unregulated value of the currency. Brokerages will be banned from trading altogether, with investigations into "irregularities" and "speculation" to continue after several raids of traders' offices and one man's arrest in recent days. Jorge Giordani, finance minister, said the measures were to prevent a "financial avalanche" and to "clean up" the currency market, which would be put under the "absolute and total" control of the central bank when the market reopened. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-05-18 21:22 |