Inflation-mauled Venezuela to put its currency on free float

Venezuelan officials announced on Tuesday that they will allow a free-floating exchange rate for the country’s battered currency. The socialist South American government has been struggling to maintain its decade-old currency controls as inflation has soared with heavy public spending. 

Now the falling price of petroleum is slamming the oil-based economy. While the bolivar is trading for about 190 per dollar on the black market, the government sells dollars for the most crucial imports at rates of 6.3 or 12 bolivars and demands that retailers hold down prices to reflect the subsidies.