The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, has ruled out converting the dollar into the official currency of the country and has reiterated that the Government's priority is to consolidate and strengthen the bolívar to sustain commercial and financial operations, defending that monetary sovereignty constitutes the only way to bolster national economic development.
During the annual assembly of the employers' association of Chambers and Associations of Commerce and Production of Venezuela, held in Caracas, the leader has reiterated her rejection of the predominance of the US dollar in the local economy. "You know my position from years ago and I maintain it and uphold it. It is not dollarization that will solve Venezuela's problem. It is your currency, it is to consolidate and strengthen your national currency that guarantees commercial processes, but also financial ones, that guarantees financing for Venezuela," she asserted.
Rodríguez has emphasized the strategic importance of preserving monetary sovereignty and has highlighted the banking measures implemented by the Executive to redirect credit towards the productive and industrial sectors. In this regard, she has indicated that, like any other economy, Venezuela requires access to foreign currency for its productive apparatus and has underscored the efforts with international banking to ensure a constant supply of foreign currency until the end of the year.
However, the head of the Executive has admitted that the exchange market still needs corrections in the flows to reduce the gap and increase the available liquidity between demanders and suppliers. "There are still adjustments to be made for the exchange market to be a more fluid exchange market based on transactionability (...) but definitely the foreign currency for the country is guaranteed," she concluded.
Her appearance before the business community has also served for the acting president to inform of an economic growth of 6.5% in the third quarter of the year, in a context in which the Venezuelan Government seeks to strengthen financial stability and reinforce its international ties following recent diplomatic approaches with Washington.