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Re: DISCUSSION - VENEZUELA - Chavez Says He'll Seize Businesses That Raise Prices

Released on 2013-02-13 00:00 GMT

Email-ID 1090385
Date 2010-01-11 05:02:58
Here are my initial thoughts on the devaluation. Please feel free to add,
subtract, expand, or whatever.

Devaluing the sovereign means:
* The prices of imported goods and services will rise immediately
* This will stimulate the domestic economy by making imported goods
and services more expensive, and therefore domestic producers
become more competitive vis-`a-vis the rest of the world
* This also means a margin squeeze for those industries who rely on
imported inputs
* Since business can't pass on increased costs or be seized
(though, realistically, this probably only applies to high
profile companies actually worth seizing), business will have
to eat the increased costs, though not all will be able to
* Likelihood of increased unemployment in these sectors
* Exported bolivar-denominated goods and services become more
competitive vis-`a-vis the rest of the world immediately
* The real service costs for holders of foreign-currency-denominated
debt rises immediately
* If Venezuelan banks have large holdings, this could precipitate
bank runs and a banking crisis (a la Mexico)
* Those banks who lent heavily to sectors facing margin
compression can expect rising NPLs
* The real value of an externally held bolivar-denominated debt is
reduced immediately
* This will piss off the holders of those assets, make securing
international financing more difficult or expensive in the
future, if it's even available
* Could lead some investors to not roll over Venezuelan debt
* All of which could aggravate the banking system or any
business that rely on access to international capital for
their operations
* Inflation, Inflation, Inflation
* Any market participant exchanging their foreign currency will now
receive more bolivars for it by the central bank, and hence more
bolivars will be chasing the same amount of domestic goods and
* This will help shore up government spending (at the expense of
higher inflation)
* For example, state-owned oil companies now exchange their
dollars for twice as many bolivars and then use those to
finance government expenditure
* Anyone who was smart enough to hold their savings in foreign
currency can now exchange them for more bolivars, thereby both
rewarding and encouraging further speculation
* Inflation will start to erode the benefits of the sovereign
devaluation, e.g. when employees demand wage increases to reflect
the now higher cost of living
* There's really no way to contain consumer price inflation (that I
can think of that wouldn't destroy the economy, i.e. incredibly
high interest rates)
* Chavez obviously cannot seize the whole economy
* Overall environment now riskier
* Inflation risks
* Further devaluation risks
* Banking sector risks
* Seizure risks
* Investing in Venezuela is now cheaper (though manifestly riskier)
* Could be an invitation by Chazev to his communists friends (e.g.
China) to come invest and build out Venezuela's infrastructure on
the cheap

Karen Hooper wrote:

I would love some input on the likely implications of this devaluation
from the econ gurus....

Robert Reinfrank wrote:

Using one's own inflationary policies as a pretext to seize the whole
economy, brilliant!
Matthew Gertken wrote:

Chavez Says He&#65533;ll Seize Businesses That Raise Prices
By Daniel Cancel

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that
businesses have no reason to raise prices following the devaluation
of the bolivar and that the government will seize any entity that
boosts its prices.

Chavez said he&#65533;ll create an anti-speculation committee to
monitor prices after private businesses said that prices would
double and consumers rushed to buy household appliances and
televisions. The government is the only authority able to dictate
price increases, he said.
&#65533;The bourgeois are already talking about how all prices are
going to double and they&#65533;re closing their businesses to raise
prices,&#65533; Chavez said in comments on state television during
his weekly &#65533;Alo Presidente&#65533; program. &#65533;People,
don&#65533;t let them rob you, denounce it, and I&#65533;m capable
of taking over that business.&#65533;

Chavez devalued the bolivar as much as 50 percent on Jan. 8 for the
first time in almost 5 years, as last year&#65533;s decline in oil
revenue caused the economy to contract an estimated 2.9 percent, its
first recession since 2003. The government set a multi-tiered
currency system that Chavez says will stimulate national production
by making imports more expensive.

Inflation Outlook

The devaluation may add to inflation by 3 percent to 5 percent this
year, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said. The government forecast
an inflation rate of 20 percent to 22 percent this year, after
consumer prices rose 25 percent, according to the National Consumer
Price Index.

The government also will &#65533;attack&#65533; the so-called
parallel exchange rate, which Chavez called &#65533;illegal.&#65533;

Venezuelans turn to the parallel rate when they can&#65533;t get
government authorization to buy dollars at the official exchange
rate. The bolivar traded at 6.25 per dollar on Jan. 8, traders said.

&#65533;They put the value of the dollar at more than 6 in an
arbitrary and illegal manner,&#65533; Chavez said. &#65533;We have
to organize to reduce and attack that speculative, illegal dollar
that hurts the Venezuelan economy so much.&#65533;


Last Updated: January 10, 2010 13:15 EST

Karen Hooper
Latin America Analyst