Bolivia's dollar exchange rate to close week at Bs 12.15 amid stabilization efforts

The dollar exchange rate in Bolivia is projected to conclude the week at 12.15 bolivianos per U.S. dollar, according to the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB). This rate surpasses current prices in the parallel market, where the dollar is trading around 12.00 bolivianos for purchase and 11.99 for sale. Despite this, the Bolivian government maintains its objective to stabilize the dollar's value within a range of 9.70 to 10.20 bolivianos, as stated by the Minister of Economy, José Gabriel Espinoza.

Since June 29, the Bolivian currency has been operating under a "flexible" exchange rate regime. The official rate has seen substantial shifts, moving from 6.96 bolivianos over several years to 9.73 bolivianos, and most recently to 11.89 bolivianos as of July 30. Minister Espinoza acknowledged these fluctuations, noting that Bolivia has been under a "floating" regime for four weeks. He described the approximately 20% variation as within expected parameters for economies transitioning to a new exchange rate system, emphasizing that the adjustments in Bolivia have been gradual and controlled. He added that such variations are often larger at the outset of a new regime in other economies.

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In Bolivia we have had the floating regime for four weeks. We have had a variation of about 20%, it is within what is expected in other economies when this happens, when the exchange rate regime is changed, redundancy aside, the variations tend to be much larger at the beginning of the operation of the new regime. In our case, it has been gradual and controlled.