Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela’s bolivar fell to a one- week low in unregulated trading after Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said the government is “cautiously” studying a devaluation of the official exchange rate.

The bolivar fell 2.7 percent in unregulated trading today to 5.53 per dollar from 5.38 bolivars per dollar yesterday, traders said.

Rodriguez’s “comments yesterday about studying devaluation generated some momentary unease in the market,” said Alberto Cardenas, strategy manager at BancTrust & Co. in Caracas in a phone interview. “We’re seeing more demand for dollars today and a diminished supply.”

The currency may also be sliding after central bank President Nelson Merentes said the bank hasn’t received a request from state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, to issue more bonds this year, Cardenas said.

PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez said on Nov. 4 that the company will issue more bonds before the end of the year to pay down debts with service suppliers that stand at as much as $5 billion.

The Venezuelan government and PDVSA have sold a combined $11.3 billion in bonds this year, after declines in oil prices last year dragged down revenue. The government needs money to cover budget shortfalls, pay suppliers and meet demand for foreign currency in the local market.

Unregulated Market

Local investors purchase the bonds in bolivars and can sell them abroad for dollars. Venezuelans buy dollars in the parallel market when they can’t get government authorization to purchase them at the official exchange rate of 2.15 per dollar.

In Colombia, the peso declined as a slide in U.S. stocks and the price of oil, the nation’s top export, sapped investor demand for higher-yielding, emerging-market assets.

The peso slid 0.2 percent to 1,968.77 per U.S. dollar from 1,965.45 yesterday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell from a 13-month high, dropping 1 percent to 1,087.60. Crude oil declined 3.2 percent.

The yield on Colombia’s 11 percent bonds due in July 2020 slid nine basis points, or 0.09 percentage point, to 8.02 percent, according to Colombia’s stock exchange.

Argentina’s peso was little changed at 3.8140 per dollar from 3.8145 yesterday. The yield on the country’s inflation- linked peso bonds due in 2033 slid 14 basis points to 11.22 percent, according to Citibank Argentina.

Argentina’s Restructuring

Argentina’s planned restructuring of defaulted bonds left out of a 2005 settlement will enable the country to pursue more lax fiscal policies, sparking further deterioration in government finances, RBS Securities Inc. analyst Boris Segura said in a report today.

In Chile, the peso snapped a six-day climb, sliding 0.1 percent to 507.4 per U.S. dollar, from 507 yesterday. The peso has jumped 9.2 percent in the past month, the best performance among all currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

The yield for a basket of Chile’s 10-year peso bonds in inflation-linked currency units, called unidades de fomento, rose three basis points to 3.19 percent, according to Bloomberg composite prices.

Peru’s sol fell 0.2 percent to 2.8780 per dollar, from 2.8725 yesterday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Drew Benson in Buenos Aires at abenson9@bloomberg.net; Daniel Cancel in Caracas at dcancel@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 12, 2009 15:41 EST