Venezuela's parallel-market dollar traded Thursday at around 3.25 bolivars, unchanged from the previous day

Venezuela's parallel-market dollar traded Thursday at around 3.25 bolivars, unchanged from the previous day as traders are expecting the appointment of a new finance minister and the possible sale of dollar-denominated structured notes by the government. The so-called parallel-market dollar has traded since March at around VEB3, higher than the VEB2.15 peg but much lower than in 2007, as the government engaged in an aggressive debt strategy that included a $4 billion bond issue geared to importers in need of dollars. The government also sold structured notes made up Argentinean, Ecuadorian and Brazilian debt to supply the parallel market with U.S. currency. The strategy paid off as the price of the dollar has fallen from a high of nearly VEB7 late last year. The government in May purchased $1 billion of Argentine debt instruments, which traders say are likely to be packaged in structured notes and sold to investors in need of dollars.