Venezuela on Tuesday said it would use the euro, yuan or other convertible currency instead of the U.S. dollar as the hard currency of choice for international and currency exchange transactions.
Tareck El Aissami, vice president of the economy, cited crippling U.S. economic and financial sanctions that block the country's transactions in U.S. dollars as the reason behind the move.
Foreign exchange rates and "credit granted by the nation's financial system are going to be calculated in euros, yuan or any other convertible currency," El Aissami said in a broadcast, flanked by the president of Venezuela's Central Bank Calixto Ortega Sanchez, and Economy and Finance Minister Simon Zerpa.
"It is increasingly more hostile to carry out operations using the dollar," he said.
As part of the measure, President Nicolas Maduro ordered 2 billion euros being made available for the national foreign exchange market.
The decision is one of a series of steps designed to bolster the local economy.
In addition, all banks will be able to participate in the government-run auctions used to set exchange rates, which were previously limited to state banks and four private banks.
"We have to advance towards a new situation" and "we are doing well," El Aissami said.
