"A monetary branch of the government."

We have had a discussion here about -- among other things -- whteher the CB
is, or should be considered, an instrument of the government . See the
appended news report.

Trond Andresen

******************

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=4426

>Former Central Bank officials claim government is running bank policies
>
>According to former executives at the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), the
>government has taken control of the BCV and it is now "a monetary branch of
>the government."
>
>In a document signed by 11 former senior BCV executives they claim that the
>BCV is breaking the Constitution by endorsing government policies. "Monetary
>policy is now subordinate to fiscal needs and this has led to non-compliance
>with the Constitution."
>
>Proof of this, the group claim, can be seen on three specific occasions:
>August 2000 "when the Finance Minister decided to confiscate part of the
>bank's capital," secondly in October 2001 when the bank's ability to
>establish reserves were removed from the Central Bank Law and thirdly in
>November last year when the law was changed because the Treasury needed
>extra funds.
Received on Fri Mar 14 14:10:01 2003