The government introduced exchange controls at the beginning of February. The purpose was to prevent the haemorrhaging of foreign exchange. The controls have been effective and foreign exchange reserves have recovered from the dangerously low levels (verging on US$10bn) they had hit at the end of January; they were back at more secure levels of over US$16bn. Chávez said that now this had happened the tourniquet could be loosened.
Business has been grumbling at the shortage of foreign exchange. There is no evidence that the exchange controls were targeted at particular businesses: everyone seemed to suffer indiscriminately. Chávez said that US$50m in foreign exchange would be made available to importers. He also paid lip service to the idea that Venezuela would clear its US$300m debt to Colombian suppliers. He said that although Venezuelan businesses were asking for the dollars, if they weren't available they would have to find some other way to clear the debt.
The government of Venezuela is about to test whether its international creditworthiness has really improved, as one credit rating agency asserts. The finance ministry says that it has commissioned Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley to sound out investors about a 10-year bond issue for about US$2bn. The ministry said that part of the money will be raised by reopening a euro issue.
The rating agency in the spotlight is Fitch, which last month bravely raised its rating on Venezuela from CCC+ to B-. The agency argued that the government deserved credit for restoring oil production so quickly. Others may look askance at the continuing gridlock in congress, which remains unable to select a new electoral council.
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