Venezuela sets new exchange rate for visitors

CARACAS - The Venezuelan government will allow visitors to get more bolivars for their US dollars, but the deal is not attractive as they can get much more on the black market.

Starting on Monday, visitors can get 11.3 bolivars per dollar against the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars for most transactions, according to a statement of the Central Bank.

The offer pales in comparison with the black market, where one US dollar can buy 64 bolivars.

Apparently to encourage visitors to buy bolivars from official channels, the bank said visitors can exchange their unspent bolivars back to dollars -- by presenting the receipts of their first exchange transaction in Venezuela.