Venezuela’s Exchange Rate Crackdown Halts Crab Shipments, Plants Can no Longer Export
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton February 8, 2018
Venezuela’s shipments of fresh crab meat to the US were halted a couple of weeks ago, as a fresh financial crisis has hit exchange rates.
The government published a new official exchange rate that represents an official devaluation of 99.6% for the US dollar, going from a subsidized rate of 10 Bolivar per dollar to the new rate of 37,000 Bolivar per dollar.
However, this is still far below the unofficial exchange rate, which is around 236,000 Bolivar per dollar. But in making the change, the government rescinded for all private industry, not just the seafood industry, the ability to use the unofficial exchange rate.
The result was that private companies halted exports and laid off almost all workers, because they could no longer cover their expenses at the official rate.
In the past, the government had allowed private companies..
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