CADIVI
| Centro Nacional de Comercio Exterior | |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2015 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Headquarters | Caracas |
| Annual budget | 50 billion USD (2009) 30 billion USD (2010) |
| Parent agency | Ministerio del Poder Popular de Planificación y Finanzas |
| Website | cencoex.gob.ve |
The National Center for Foreign Commerce, (Spanish: Centro Nacional de Comercio Exterior, CENCOEX), formerly the Commission for the Administration of Currency Exchange (Comisión de Administración de Divisas CADIVI), is the Venezuelan government body which administers legal currency exchange in Venezuela. The official buy/sell exchange rate was initially fixed at Bs.F. 4.28 / Bs.F. 4.30 per US Dollar (USD). Currently the official buy/sell exchange rate is fixed at Bs.F. 10 per USD.
In 1983, a similar agency called "Differential Change Regime" (Régimen de Cambio Diferencial(RECADI)) was established to manage a system of differential exchange rates and capital controls, and disbanded in 1989 when the differential exchange rate system was abolished. RECADI saw widespread corruption, and became a substantial scandal in 1989 when five former ministers were arrested, although the charges were later dropped.
Exchange controls under CADIVI were adopted on 5 February 2003 in an attempt to limit capital flight, in the aftermath of a two-month strike/lockout aimed at toppling the government, which saw GDP fall 27% during the first four months of 2003.
In 2008, the Chavez government revalued the Venezuela currency by a ratio of 1:1000, thus creating a new currency known as the bolívar fuerte (eng. "bolivar") but kept the currency pegged to a higher rate against the dollar than the market value. Since 2003, this has created a scarcity of foreign currency, as confidence in the bolivar declined, and foreign exchange, especially the U.S. dollar, was in greater demand.
According to the Bank for International Settlements, "The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) fixed a monthly allocation of foreign currency to be administered by CADIVI, purchases foreign currency from residents, and sells foreign currency to the public and private sectors subject to approval from CADIVI." Under Venezuelan law PDVSA must sell its foreign exchange to the Central Bank, thereby providing the bulk of foreign currency in Venezuela. The Venezuelan private sector requires more foreign exchange for imports than it generates for exports, and is dependent on the Bank to satisfy the difference.
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