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Banco de Venezuela placed 5% of its shares on the Caracas stock exchange on Friday. This marks the beginning of the opening of the capital of the largest Venezuelan public bank to private companies. A turning point in President Nicolas Maduro’s economic policy.
The State intends to remain Banco de Venezuela’s largest shareholder, but the public bank, which has 15 million customers in a country of 30 million inhabitants, will open up to 10% of its capital to private companies.
Other public companies will follow the example such as the telephone company CANTV or even oil and gas companies. The capital of these companies will be open to both local and foreign investors.
A break with the socialist model imposed by the economic crisis
A break with the policy of nationalization led by Hugo Chavez and then not Nicolas Maduro: Banco de Venezuela had been nationalized in 2009 by Hugo Chávez, whose administration paid 1 billion dollars to the Spanish financial group Santander, which had bought it in 1994.
Break imposed by economic crisis and social impact that the country has been experiencing for several years due to poor management carried out by successive governments but also by American sanctions.
By opening up the economic sector to private companies, the government hopes to attract the capital necessary for the development of public companies which are sorely lacking in investment. This tactical change was announced on May 12: “ We will put up for sale between 5% and 10% of the shares of various public companies for national or international investment and you can become an investor President Maduro said in a speech on state channel VTV. ” We need technology, we need new markets and we will move forward he assured.
According to some NGOs, asTransparency Venezuela, the government is in negotiations with private companies to sell public companies. ” The Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro, in apparent dissociation with the so-called socialism of the 21st century, has begun to cede the management of public companies to private companies “, said the NGO in December 2021 after identifying 33 cases linked to the agri-food, tourism and industrial sectors.
(with agencies)
►To read: In Venezuela, the bolivar supported by billions of dollars