A critical view of the effect of exchange control on the current situation of the cotton-producing agricultural sector

Abstract

In the internal economy of any nation, there are several reasons for the need to use a given good or service outside its borders. This entails positive and negative aspects for the receiving country, and they vary according to the type of good imported, either finished products or raw materials for their transformation, bearing in mind that the fact of importing should be an alternative to increase, not a substitution to the national production. The research makes a tour through the history of the exchange control in Venezuela, as well as questioning the import, even when the receiving country has the capacity to produce the goods requested from abroad. It analyzes possible particular intentions of the custodians of the foreign currency to stimulate importing more than producing. At the same time, some consequences of not having the cotton raw material in the country are evidenced. These situations are framed by the unilateral dependence of the country's foreign currency, since the submission to the oil income anchors the explorations in other markets that could generate foreign currency, and not depend entirely on the volatility of the hydrocarbon market.