The National Business Council (CONEP), in its most recent
news analysis published in El Caribe on Sunday, approved the unification of the
exchange market on the grounds that the government would no longer be able to
manipulate it to suit its own purposes. CONEP says the official transactions
represent only 12% of the total market, and that if the Central Bank adequately
plans its public debt and petroleum payments, stability should not be affected.
The anxiety in the market that caused the peso to slide last week was attributed
to an acute sensitivity in the market to any rule changes. The market
unification will foster competitiveness, promote exports versus imports and
discourage the release of money without reserves, according to the foremost
business sector association. The challenge ahead, CONEP predicts, is for the
authorities to promote competition in the exchange system, in order to truly
establish a free market, while implementing macroeconomic policies to encourage
a stable rate of exchange at levels that stimulate exports without artificially
reducing the price of imports.