Govt. to introduce foreign currency system 90 days

Venezuela's government will introduce a new system for foreign exchange transactions within the next 90 days, local daily El Universal reported. The new system will follow restrictive foreign currency measures introduced in February in response to the destabilizing operations carried out by opposition political parties, agriculture minister Efren Andrades was quoted as saying. According to central bank chief Domingo Maza Zavala, the government-backed measures will not result in radical changes to the present foreign exchange system. Venezuela's foreign exchange commission Cadivi will continue to handle the authorization process for foreign currency requests in line with government policy, the paper said. The country's President Hugo Chavez ordered a ban on foreign exchange transactions in February after a two-month nationwide strike to depose him fell apart. The strike seriously disrupted the economy, especially the state run oil industry, which is a key source of government revenues. Cadivi was subsequently empowered to allocate scarce foreign currency to priority sectors. Chavez has threatened to withhold foreign currency from businesses that participated in the strike.