Venezuelan oil companies export US currency: Source | Business and Economic Affairs

Venezuelan companies that have US dollars to protect themselves from inflation are paying 7% to move foreign currency, Reuters reports.

Venezuelan companies with dollar bills to protect themselves from inflation have begun paying around 7% for the money to be transferred to foreign accounts, six people familiar with this told Reuters news agency.

Local banks since 2020 have allowed companies to keep U.S. money in stocks, providing a shelter for 3,100% of inflation that destroys the bolivar currency. Accounts do not pay interest.

This year, banks and financial advisers began offering services that convert money into foreign bank accounts, at a rate of change ranging from 4% to 7% of those funds, sources said.

This is another indication of the continuing strain on the doll for more than 15 years of economic regulation, a change driven by US sanctions that cut Venezuela’s economic activity around the world.

The sanctions do business with the government and state-owned enterprises but do not prevent them from associating with Venezuelan private companies.

“Once you have an inadequate bank account, you have to look at ways in which your company can operate,” said one source.

The service allows retail, professional and medical companies to pay creditors and foreign suppliers, according to sources, who requested anonymity.

The researchers declined to identify the banks and companies involved in the operation or foreign corporations, claiming that international banks have restrictions on Venezuela’s cash flow.

The ministry of information, central bank and bank administrators Sudeban did not respond to a request for comment.

The extraordinary activities have taken place after U.S. sanctions have been targeted mainly at Venezuela’s central bank, and many foreign banks have suspended “registration banks” operations that often require money transfers across borders.

Venezuelans also use euros and euros in cash every day.

As of March, 56 percent of sales were made using a dollar or euro loan, according to an Ecoanalitica study, which estimates that a total of $ 2.3bn revolves around Venezuela’s economy.

President Nicolas Maduro in 2019 lifted the ban on compliance with a US license on the Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) oil company in early 2019, cutting government spending. Washington has accused Maduro of being a dictator who rigged its 2018 elections.

Maduro, who is accusing the US of trying to extricate him from the threat, has received the doll as a “refuge” for Venezuelans suffering from economic hardship, which he criticizes, even though Venezuela started long before Washington gave PDVSA.