Titoli di Stato paesi-emergenti VENEZUELA e Petroleos de Venezuela - Cap. 1

[Fred_EL]

Venezuela Leader Rejects Devaluation Amid Faltering Economy
CARACAS, Venezuela — Jan 21, 2015, 9:35 PM ET
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Associated Press

Venezuela's president is raising wages and dismissing talk of currency devaluation as he tries to pull his oil-dependent economy out of recession and quell mounting frustration with his socialist policies.

In a much-anticipated speech to the legislature Wednesday night, Nicolas Maduro avoided the reengineering of currency controls that economists say is needed to avoid a triple-digit inflationary spiral. He also announced a new round of social spending.

In nearly three hours of optimistic rhetoric, Maduro repeated his accusations that the opposition is sabotaging the economy and urged Venezuelans to hold faith.

The only hint he is considering a more orthodox tilt is his proposal to increase gasoline prices and to tweak the multi-tiered exchange rate system that economists blame for much of Venezuela's economic distortions.

 

[Fred_EL]

Maduro announces forex system for three markets
A foreign exchange system at an exchange rate of VEB 6.30 per US dollar will remain in place for priority items. One single Ancillary Foreign Currency Administration System (Sicad) will be established and the system of auction sales of foreign currency will be enhanced


EL UNIVERSAL
Wednesday January 21, 2015 09:47 PM
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced late on Wednesday during the presentation of the Annual Report and Accounts 2014 that he and his economic team have designed a foreign exchange system comprising three markets, intended to meet all the foreign currency needs in the country.

One single Ancillary Foreign Currency Administration System (Sicad) will be established. "The Second Ancillary Foreign Currency Administration System (Sicad 2) will become a new system operating through both public and private stock exchanges," said Maduro.

"The dollar will stand at VEB 6.30 for foodstuffs and basic items," the Venezuelan president explained. He added that the new forex system would be temporary.

 

[Fred_EL]

Maduro said on Wednesday Venezuela's crude, which trades at a discount to other benchmarks due to its greater heavy-oil content, was at $38 a barrel - compared with $99 in June.

 

[Fred_EL]

Venezuela Plans New FX System, Keep Primary Rate, Maduro Says - Bloomberg


Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said he plans a new currency system for non-essential imports while maintaining the primary exchange rate for food and medicine.

The South American country will revamp a secondary system known as Sicad I and transition a system known as Sicad II to a market-based system, the president said, adding that officials would provide further details in the coming days. Venezuela will maintain the official rate of 6.3 bolivars per dollar for priority imports.

“This exchange system is a transitory system to attend the country’s development needs,” Maduro told congress in in a televised national address Wednesday night. It will combine “brokerages, private and public sector to compete with” the black market for the dollars.

Before today’s speech, Maduro had postponed any announcements on loosening price and foreign currency controls four times in the past few months. Economists including analysts at Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc blame price caps for a worsening scarcity of basic goods, the world’s fastest inflation and the economy’s contraction.

 

[Fred_EL]

“We need income from gasoline, but we’re not desperate,” he said. “I open the debate today.”

 

[Fred_EL]

UPDATE 4-President pushes currency, fuel reforms for ailing Venezuela

Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:07pm EST


* Maduro makes bid to combat black market for dollars

* He says it's time to hike domestic gasoline prices

* IMF official says economy could shrink 7 pct in 2015 (Adds details on currency changes, analyst comment)

UPDATE 4-President pushes currency, fuel reforms for ailing Venezuela

The 52-year-old Maduro blamed political foes for Venezuela's dismal data, but he also announced the most concrete changes in months to try to shore up the economy.

Carefully avoiding the word devaluation and without giving much detail, Maduro said he was modifying existing complex currency controls to combat the black market for dollars while sticking to a complex three-tier model.

Greenbacks would still be available for essential food and medicine at the current, strongest rate of 6.3 bolivars to the dollar, he said, but two weaker Central Bank rates of around 12 and 50, respectively, would be merged.

A third new system would be created to offer dollars via private brokers to vie with the black market where the rate is 177 bolivars, Maduro added, saying his economic officials would give further details.

Assuming the merged rate, known as Sicad, and the third level would be weaker than the current rates, those changes would give the government more bolivars for its dollar oil revenue and, essentially, represent the "stealth devaluation" many economists had been predicting.

That could add to pressure on Venezuela's inflation, already the highest in the Americas.

While economists were waiting to see fine print, some feared it could be another quick fix. "Overall, the historical record is quite extensive and clear that multi-tier exchange rate systems are very difficult to administer and eventually collapse," said Alberto Ramos of Goldman Sachs.

 

[Fred_EL]

Sempre da reuters di sopra:

'IF YOU WANT, CRUCIFY ME!'

On the touchy subject of domestic fuel prices, Maduro said he favored a rise this year, a measure recommended by many economists to lessen distortions and boost revenue.

Venezuelans currently fill up for less than $0.02 a liter, thanks to a roughly $12 billion annual government subsidy. But Maduro is mindful of the infamous "Caracazo" riots in which hundreds died in 1989 over fuel price increases.

"If you want, crucify me, kill me," he said, announcing a national debate on the subject. "The price is a distortion ... I think the time has come ... to do it this year. I assume the responsibility and the criticisms."

Opponents say 15 years of misguided socialist policies and corruption since Chavez took power have wrecked Venezuela's economy and heaped suffering on its 30 million inhabitants who are facing unprecedented shortages of basic products.

"They've destroyed production," opposition leader Henrique Capriles tweeted during Maduro's three-hour speech. "That's the cause of the queues, not the lies they're telling."

According to U.N. estimates, Argentina is the only other country in Latin America whose economy was seen contracting last year, though by less than Venezuela.

In one of the grimmest forecasts yet, an IMF official estimated on Wednesday that Venezuela's economy will shrink 7 percent this year.

Maduro said on Wednesday that Venezuela's crude, which trades at a discount to other benchmarks due to its greater heavy-oil content, was at $38 a barrel - versus $99 in June.

"It will not return to $100 ... We have less foreign currency ... But God will provide," he said, sounding a note of resignation after a nearly two-week tour of oil producers around the world to seek ways to boost the price of crude.

Venezuela's opposition coalition called on people to bang pots and pans in a traditional form of protest during Maduro's speech. That could be heard in some neighborhoods of Caracas, though not as loud as on occasions last year.

Maduro repeatedly lashed his political opponents for trying to sabotage the economy via hoarding and disruption.

"In 2014, we again faced the script of destabilization and violence," he said, referring to four months of protests that caused major disruption and killed 43 people, including demonstrators, government supporters and security officials

The government still maintains popular Chavez-era welfare programs, such as subsidized food and free health clinics, that benefit millions.

Maduro said unemployment was at a new low of 5.5 percent, and announced a 15 percent minimum wage increase next month as well as new housing projects and scholarships.

With a vicious blame-game under way over Venezuela's economic shortages and parliamentary elections due later this year, the government plans to mobilize supporters in a rally on Friday, and the opposition has called a march for Saturday.

Even though his popularity has dropped to 22 percent, according to one leading pollster, Maduro predicted his ruling Socialist Party would win the National Assembly vote by 10 percentage points.

Flanked by a giant photo of Chavez twice his own size, Maduro confidently predicted, "2015 will be the year of victory and economic rebirth." At the same time, scores of opponents took to Twitter across Venezuela predicting he would not last the year in power and his "Chavismo" movement was dying. (Additional reporting by Diego Ore and Eyanir Chinea; Editing by Ken Wills and Richard Borsuk)

 

[Fred_EL]

The Venezuelan leader emphasized new economic measures to address the drop in global oil prices, as well as inflation and the Economic War within the country. Among the reforms announced in the economic package include changes to the countries currency system, which will fix the official exchange rate at 6.3 bolivares to the dollar, and subject other non-state transactions to a floating market rate.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/ne...-despite-Economic-Slowdown-20150121-0025.html

 

[Fred_EL]

Il viaggio gli è servito a qc:

Venezuela's president says oil price will not return to $100

 

[Fred_EL]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article7908984.html

Among the measures is a proposal to raise gasoline prices this year. Cheap gas is considered a birthright in a country that sits on the world’s largest crude reserves, and attempts to tamper with it in the past have fueled social unrest.

But Maduro said selling gasoline at 5 cents a gallon was no longer sustainable and that he was willing to be “crucified” if necessary but “we need to move to a regime where the prices are balanced and just.”

He also announced the liberalization of the three-tiered exchange rate system that critics say has driven corruption and speculation. The government will still exchange bolivares at 6.3 to the dollar for critical imports, such as food and medicine, but it will move all other transactions to free-floating exchanges.

The shift will essentially formalize the black market dollar rate — which the vast majority of individuals and companies already rely on, and which has been trading near 177 bolivares to the dollar.

That change could be another source of unrest as it implies a devaluation for individuals and companies who hoped to exchange funds at the preferential rates.