Venezuela Devalues Currency 64% on New FX Auction Platform
- Dollars sold at 2,010 bolivars at first week of Dicom auction
- Government will maintain preferential rate for essential goods
A manager counts the incoming cash of the day at a bakery in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016.
Photographer: Manaure Quintero/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Venezuela’s central bank devalued its weakest legal exchange rate nearly 64 percent in its latest currency system as the cash-strapped nation attempts to ease a shortage of dollars that’s emptied store shelves and fueled the word’s highest inflation.
On Wednesday, central bank director Pedro Maldonado announced the results of the first auction in a revamped currency platform, known as Dicom, where it sold $24 million to businesses and individuals. Each U.S. dollar was sold at a rate of 2,010 bolivars, a sharp decline from the previous rate of about 728 bolivars.