Venezuela black market forex rate weakens below 200 bolivars per dlr

Venezuela's black market exchange rate weakened below 200 bolivars per dollar on Tuesday, according to a widely referenced website DolarToday, despite the recent launch of a foreign exchange platform meant to reduce pressure on the black market. The bolivar has weakened 14 percent since the start of the year and 56 percent in the last 12 months, according to DolarToday, which publishes the black market rate based mostly on currency trades along the Colombian border. The government last week opened a "free-floating" currency exchange mechanism known as Simadi which currently sells dollars for 172 bolivars. That is the weakest of a three-tiered exchange control system that also sells dollars at a preferential rate of 6.3 bolivars for imports of food and medicine and a complementary rate of around 12 bolivars for other goods. More…