American automaker Ford Motor has temporarily suspended operations in Venezuela over lack of foreign currency to import automobile parts for assembly.
Companies in Venezuela pay local bolivars to state currency board Cencoez, in order to receive US dollars for imports. However, private firms including car manufacturers have been complaining that the socialist government's currency controls are halting the import of essential products.
Transport Minister Haiman El Troudi was quoted by Reuters as saying that plant should reopen in two weeks after a meeting between Ford representatives and government officials that resolved some critical bottlenecks.
Cencoez would release $20m in debt to Ford this week, he added.
Production at the Ford facility in the central city of Valencia is expected be suspended till the end of May.
Restrictions and delays in purchases of dollars have hit production at private firms in the country. Currently, ministers are holding urgent meetings with business heads to resolve problems and help reverse the decrease in local production.
The government is under pressure to release more dollars for imports. However, President Nicolas Maduro noted that unscrupulous businessmen exaggerate needs in order to sell the dollars on the black market for profit.
