According to the interim president, the amount ‘will finance workers’ income and protect purchasing power’
Acting as interim president since , reported this Tuesday (20) the entry of the first 300 million dollars (R$ 1.6 billion) from the sale of Venezuelan oil by the United States, intended to try to stabilize the foreign exchange market. “As a result of the sale of oil, 300 million of the 500 million dollars [totais]. They will go to finance workers’ income and protect purchasing power [dos venezuelanos] inflation, protect from the negative impact of fluctuations in the foreign exchange market”, said Rodríguez in a statement broadcast on the state channel VTV.
The United States attacked Venezuela on January 3 and overthrew Nicolás Maduro, who is now facing justice in the United States on drug trafficking charges. Since then, Washington has controlled the sale of Venezuelan oil and agreed on a first release of the amount collected of 500 million dollars, deposited in a fund in Qatar.
“As a result of the sale of oil, 300 million of the 500 million dollars [totais]. They will go to finance workers’ income and protect purchasing power [dos venezuelanos] inflation, protect from the negative impact of fluctuations in the foreign exchange market”, said Rodríguez in a statement broadcast on the state channel VTV.
The resources will be transferred to a handful of Venezuelan banks, which will allocate them to companies in essential sectors. The injection seeks to compensate for a foreign exchange market that was devoid of foreign currency for months and stabilize the price of the dollar in a highly dollarized economy. “These first resources will be used through the national banking system and the Central Bank of Venezuela precisely to stabilize the foreign exchange market,” added Rodríguez. The Venezuelan economy has experienced strong exchange rate instability, which has led the price of the parallel dollar to be up to 100% above the official exchange rate.
*With information from AFP
