President Maduro Rejects Currency Speculation in Venezuela

On Thursday, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro asked his compatriots not to allow the operation of speculators who are playing with the price of the U.S. dollar in the informal exchange markets.

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"I ask people and merchants to be fully aware... Don't let yourself be robbed with the parallel dollar," Maduro said during the inauguration ceremony of the "Winds Park" in Falcon state.

Over the last week, the Venezuelan currency (the "bolivar") has devalued 20.3 percent against the U.S. dollar in the parallel markets. In that same period, however, the price set by the Central Bank (BCV) did not change.

Given that the exchange market has been operating with relative stability over the last year, Maduro attributed the ongoing exchange rate variations to actions aimed at sabotaging the Venezuelan economy.

"An unscrupulous group fictitiously and falsely raised the parallel dollar's price so that another group of unscrupulous merchants can steal from the people. Do not allow it," he said, asking Venezuelans to avoid speculation and fight for macroeconomic stability.

The widening of the price gap between the official dollar and the parallel dollar induces economic agents to prefer to carry out foreign exchange transactions in informal markets, which makes it difficult for the Central Bank to regulate operations. "They intend to disturb the economic recovery by using the parallel dollar again," the Bolivarian leader stressed.

Earlier on Tuesday, monetary authorities confirmed that the Venezuelan output has been growing substantially over the last year. The growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 14.65 percent in Q3 2021 to 18.7 percent in Q2 2022.