Venezuela to exclude US dollar from monetary reserves
President Nicolas Maduro has said independence from the dollar is necessary to prevent more damage to the Venezuelan economy. From Caracas, Press TV's correspondent Jesus Silva brings us the story. This week a new Central Bank Law has come into force to allow Venezuela's government to accumulate international monetary reserves that will no longer be represented by gold or the US dollars. Authorities say that from now on, other foreign currencies like the Chinese and other merchandise will be kept in the Venezuelan Central Bank. The new law has been severely criticized by the opposition who says the government has irresponsibly depleted the nation's international reserves and now tries to hide the negative consequences. Likewise economists say the new legislation will cause trouble for other countries. The Venezuelan government has said that Chinese currency would be among the new monetary alternatives for international reserves; however experts believe this would be non-viable in the international market. But socialists are defending the new Central Bank Law as President Nicolas Maduro has said he is determined to liberate Venezuela from what he calls the supremacy of the US dollar which has been harmful for the Venezuelan economy. In recent months, Venezuela's international reserves as well as oil prices have been going down, so the government is implementing new policies to improve the nation's economy. While critics of the Venezuelan government say that Maduro is making a huge mistake by adding unusual goods as international reserves, socialists say the move is based on the National Constitution of the country and would reduce the dependence of Venezuela’s reserves on gold or U-S dollar.