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Colombia To Identify, Punish 'Currency Speculators'

Colombia To Identify, Punish 'Currency Speculators' - President
Fri, Jun 20 2008, 22:02 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

Colombia To Identify, Punish 'Currency Speculators' - President

BOGOTA -(Dow Jones)- The Colombian government started a process to identify and punish "currency speculators," President Alvaro Uribe said in a speech Friday.

"The securities regulator is working to identify speculators in a program already designed and put into execution," Uribe said in a speech in the town of Cerete in the Cordoba province. He added the regulator is also evaluating what penalties would be imposed on those speculators.

Uribe made these comments after the Colombian peso reached a nine-year record Tuesday at 1,657 Colombian pesos to the dollar. The government is concerned the strong peso makes Colombian exporters less competitive and will lead to job losses.

It isn't clear what kind of conduct the government wants to punish and Uribe didn't elaborate.

Cesar Pardo, who runs the securities regulator, didn't return phone calls seeking comments.

"Speculation on the currency is perfectly legal in Colombia," said Francisco Chavez, a market analyst with local brokerage Corredores Asociados. "We are waiting for a clearer statement from the government, maybe they are referring to specific irregular operations, but it's not clear," he added.

Earlier this week, the Colombian government announced a COP200 billion plan to help exporters through soft loans and tax breaks.

Uribe said the government approved COP500 billion worth of aid for exporters in the first half of the year and will likely approve new support in the second half of the year.

-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; 57-1-694 00 76; colombia at dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2008 18:02 ET (22:02 GMT)

By tejasmarcos on Jun 21, 2008, 06:40 in Friendly Talkzone.

jonny305 says on Jun 21, 2008, 12:32:

SORRY
i dont understand the article
punish who and why
whats so wrong about speculaters?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sloopskipper says on Jun 21, 2008, 17:26:

Greedy speculators can distort values.

From the article:

"Uribe made these comments after the Colombian peso reached a nine-year record Tuesday at 1,657 Colombian pesos to the dollar. The government is concerned the strong peso makes Colombian exporters less competitive and will lead to job losses"

read http://colombiareports.com/2008/06/20/sinking-dollar-is-causing-hunger...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tejasmarcos says on Jun 22, 2008, 07:02:

hard to turn on a dime, rubito. the slide (or ascent) has been rather dramatic.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

0 funny, 0 helpful.