Venezuela will abolish its lowest exchange rate of 2.6 bolivars per U.S. dollar, The Wall Street Journal reports. The U.S. currency will be available at the state-controlled rates of 4.6 bolivars for some preferential goods and 5.3 bolivars through the central bank’s SITME exchange system. The devaluation of the currency, which will help Venezuela achieve its target of 2% economic growth for 2011, comes as the Venezuelan economy contracted 1.9% in 2010. Venezuela devalued the bolivar from its previous official rate of 2.15 per dollar to 4.3 per dollar in January 2010.
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