CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan officials are abandoning their most highly overvalued foreign exchange rate, which has been used for state imports of food and medicine as the nation’s economic crisis worsens.
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Authorities announced in the nation’s official gazette that all transactions will instead utilize a second official exchange rate known as Dicom.
The Dicom rate still contrasts sharply with the current black market exchange rate: One U.S. dollar buys 3,345 bolivars at the Dicom rate while Venezuelans are paying an average of nearly 250,000 bolivars per U.S. dollar on the black market.
The rate being abandoned was set at 10 bolivars per dollar.
Venezuela has been operating with two official exchange rates, though most Venezuelans can only buy dollars on the illegal black market.
