Venezuela further tightened currency-exchange controls on Monday, cutting in half the amount of dollars that residents may obtain through the government to send to relatives abroad.
The government said the amount Venezuelans may obtain through the state currency agency for remittances has been reduced from $1,800 to $900 a month. The change was announced in the Official Gazette.
To combat plunging oil earnings, President Hugo Chavez's government has already lowered the amount that travelers may spend abroad on their credit cards by half, to $2,500 a year.
The government has imposed currency controls in a bid to stem capital flight since 2003 following a failed coup attempt against Chavez and a punishing, opposition-led oil strike. The controls require Venezuelans and companies doing business in the country to apply to obtain foreign currency at the official rate of 2.15 bolivars to the dollar.
Those who cannot get what they need regularly turn to transactions in government bonds or the thriving black market, where the dollar has been selling recently for nearly three times the official rate.
Venezuela relies on oil for 93 percent of its exports, and last year oil exports brought in more than $87 billion. That amount is expected to drop sharply this year, some analysts expect by as much as $50 billion.
Businesses from banks to importers have recently complained of delays in receiving dollars through the currency agency Cadivi.
Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez has said that due to the fall in oil earnings, the government is giving priority to imports of food and medicines.
