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Venezuela central banker argues against Chavez, for autonomy
AFP
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 01 10 07One of the directors of Venezuela's central bank, Domingo Maza Zabala, rejected President Hugo Chavez's proposal to strip the bank of its autonomy, local media reported Tuesday.
Chavez, who announced Monday he was seeking power to nationalize the power and telephone sectors, said the central bank need not be autonomous, dismissing it as a "neoliberal idea."
He said he would seek a constitutional reform to change the provision.
Maza Zabala however argued on Globovision TV that "to carry out its duties, the central bank needs to be autonomous. The central bank's main function is to maintain the currency's value .. and regulate monetary liquidity."
"Autonomy is not the same as complete independence because the central bank is an organ of the Venezuelan state ... so it is autonomous within the purview of the state," he added.
The central banker said that if the bank loses its autonomy, markets would lose confidence in the bolivar.
AFP 09 1633 GMT 01 07
Copyright© 2001 AFP.All Rights Reserved.
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