TODAY VENEZUELA NEWS – Luis Enrique Gavazut, a member the Venezuelan Conservatory of Economy of the President’s Office, proposed completing an agreement with the Bank of the Republic of Colombia, which enables free convertibility of bolivars and Colombian pesos in the common border.
He explained this measure would legalize activities by brokerage houses of Cúcuta (northeast Colombia) and thus put an end to the influence of Bolívar Cúcuta and Dólar Today, two websites that focus on politics and finance, and report on foreign currency rates.
Additionally, Gavazut mentioned that legal pressure should be put on those banks favoring consumption credits over productive credits, which results in poor mitigation of inflation, and also on those allowing for misuse of dollars by Venezuelan elites.
About the proposal made last Thursday by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who called on businesspersons to sign an agreement seeking the country’s economic stability, Gavazut deemed it necessary to identify those groups mainly in charge of imports, having in mind that they would be highly responsible for the situation that encourages increased non-official foreign currency.
“Most of dollars to meet imports requirements in Venezuela come from State allocations to the forex market (…) The crucial factor to reach an agreement oriented towards the country’s economic stabilization is activating mechanisms to face effectively the ‘unfounded’ parallel dollar escalation, which adversely affects the country,” the expert concluded.
