Now, dollars sell on the black market at three times the officialexchangerate and Maduro has had to devalue Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, twice this year.
This action targets those people that have been using credit cards as a way to purchase at the officialrate rather than the black marketrate, in effect creating a dual credit card exchange regime.
The government has abolished jail terms for those caught dealing in foreign currency, offered extra incentives for private investment and brought the officialexchangerate closer to the black-market one.
With hyperinflation, a gap of around 10:1 has opened up between the officialexchangerate operated by the bank and the true rate reflected in the black market.
Venezuela's government has stopped issuing import permits, nor is it providing dollars at the officialexchangerate for imports from Colombia (a dollar costs almost three times more on the parallel market).