Venezuela Planning Third Dollar Supply System as Scarcity Rises

Venezuela is reforming its currency laws to start a third dollar allocation system in the “coming hours,” President Nicolas Maduro said yesterday as a shortage of greenbacks pushed product scarcity to a record. “The idea is to have supply of foreign exchange beyond the state, regulated by the state, combining market mechanisms with state direction,” Maduro said. The mechanism would come in addition to the state’s currency board that sells dollars at the official rate of 6.3 bolivars per dollar and an auction system that last sold U.S. currency at 11.36 bolivars per dollar, he said. More...