Venezuela pres. names finance minister, central bank chief

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has reassigned members of his economic team, and named an army general as the new finance minister.

In his first State of the Union speech to the Congress on Wednesday, the socialist leader announced the decision to merge the finance and banking system ministries and named Rodolfo Marco Torres, who currently oversees the banking system, to head the new Finance Ministry.

Maduro further noted that he is disbanding Cadivi, which is a state agency controlling foreign currency, to hand its duties over to the recently created National Center of Commerce headed by former commerce minister, Alejandro Flemming.

Moreover, the incumbent Finance Minister Nelson Merentes will step down and resume duties as president of the Central Bank — a post he held until nine months ago.

Rafael Ramirez, the longtime oil minister and head of the state-owned oil and natural gas company, PDVSA, will remain vice president for economic affairs.

Maduro also said he would use an “iron fist” against companies he accuses of gouging consumers, vowing to maintain the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivar per US dollar for the entire year and beyond.

“The entire population is at war and nobody can remain indifferent,” he pointed out.

Maduro also said the Venezuelan government would strengthen an alternative foreign exchange mechanism as a way to attract foreign investment in 11 essential areas, ranging from tourism to the oil industry.

The Venezuelan president stated that he would execute within the next few days a previously announced plan to put a ceiling on businesses’ profit margins at 30 percent.