VHeadline Venezuela News reports: Responding to questions in an interview published in the Zulia State regional daily newspaper, Panorama, Finance & Economy Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque said that the government has no plans to nationalize any more private companies this year...
As regards the Venezuelan government's outright purchase of (Spanish) Santander-owned Bank of Venezuela, Rodriguez Araque says that negotiations have reaching a point where the Venezuelan government is about to ask Santander "are we doing this or not?"
During the next few days he hopes to conclude the deal but denies that the transfer os US$12 billion from Venezuela's foreign reserves to the National Development Fund (Fonden) will produce what is described as a "double monetization" that many fear will increase inflationary indicators for 2009.
"These funds are for the purchase of imported components for industry ... they will be spent abroad and subsequently there will be no double monetization!"
Rodriguez Araque explains that contributions from PDVSA to Fonden "go right through, so they turn into Bolivares and they are monetized. It does not go through the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) and there's no plan to transfer additional funds to Fonden from the international reserves ... those analysts, some of whom have been in the BCV, are outrageously lying to the public!"
The statement was a direct contradiction of former BCV director Domingo Maza Zavala's statements last week which were widely reported in the international media. Maza Zavala had said that transferring $12 billion from international reserves would result in "a jump from a cliff for the Venezuelan economy."
The Finance & Economy Minister says that there may be issuance of external debt bonds ... "if necessary, yes, but there would have to be an evaluation of the price in Venezuela, one has to be very careful. Fortunately, we have the resources (in international reserves and in Fonden) to minimize those necessities."
As for the World economic recession, Rodriguez Araque was emphatic that Venezuela ... in spite of this year's crisis "will have positive figures in terms of growth ... a positive GDP ... not negative as happened during the 2002/3 oil strike" ... Venezuela today has the lowest relationship between external debt and GDP at 13.7% ... most countries top our figure in that respect! However, risk evaluators rate us high."
In conclusion Rodriquez Araque adds that, for now, there are no plans to devalue Venezuela's Bolivar currency ... "there may come a time when we may need to do so, but right now, it's not in our plans!"
VHeadline Venezuela News
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