Venezuela said it would fix the bolivar's exchange rate and extend a ban on trading to bolster foreign reserves drained by government efforts to defend the currency during a two-month-old nationwide strike.
The measures were announced by Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega on the country's Televen television network. He didn't specify at what rate the bolivar will be fixed.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Venezuela, the No. 4 exporter of oil to the US, needs to stem an exodus of foreign cash that has resulted in a 14 percent plunge in foreign reserves since the strike began. The stoppage, aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez, is in its 57th day. Blocking access to foreign currency will make it harder to move money overseas and promote an underground economy.
"They have to do something to keep their reserves but a fixed exchange rate isn't the best solution," said Sandra Ebner, who helps manage 4 billion euros (US$4.3 billion) of emerging market debt for Deka Kapitalanlagegesellschaft in Frankfurt. "It's going to cause a run on the currency and they will have to give up the fixed rate."
The central bank spent as much as US$70 million a day earlier this month to bolster the currency, raising concern of a default on US$22.4 billion of foreign debt. The nation's international reserves declined to US$13.6 billion Friday. About US$35 billion left the country since Chavez was elected in February 1999, the president said recently.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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