CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Friday his government will sell oil and other commodities in currencies other than the dollar, in a bid to weather US-imposed sanctions on the embattled country.
“I have decided to start selling oil, gas, gold and all other products that Venezuela sells with new currencies, including the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen, the Russian ruble, the Indian rupee among others,” he said during a television broadcast.
“A economy free from the US imperialist system is possible.”
Washington’s tough new sanctions on Caracas bar US banks from trading in new bonds issued by the government or the state run oil company PDVSA. The goal is to restrict Venezuela’s access to vital bond and equity markets.
The aim is to “deny the Maduro dictatorship a critical source of financing to maintain its illegitimate rule,” the White House said.
Maduro railed that they amounted to a financial and economic blockade, as ratings agency Fitch downgraded Venezuela and warned default was now likelier.
The country has to make $3.8 billion (SR14.25 billion) in debt payments in October and November, while its foreign currency reserves have sunk under $10 billion.
Venezuela to sell oil in currencies other than US dollar
Venezuela to sell oil in currencies other than US dollar
Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick appointed Meta president and vice chairman
- The former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official previously served on Meta’s board of directors
- Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a child, joins the management team and will help guide overall strategy and execution
LONDON: Meta has appointed Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman.
The company said on Monday that the former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official, who previously served on Meta’s board of directors, is stepping up into a senior leadership role as the company accelerates its push into artificial intelligence and global infrastructure.
Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a young girl, will join the management team and help guide its overall strategy and execution. She will work closely with Meta’s Compute and infrastructure teams, the company said, overseeing multi-billion-dollar investments in data centers, energy systems and global connectivity, while building new strategic capital partnerships.
“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s president and vice chairman,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Powell McCormick has more than 25 years of experience in finance, national security and economic development. She spent 16 years as a partner at Goldman Sachs in senior leadership roles, and served two US presidents, including stints as deputy national security adviser to Donald Trump, and a senior State Department official under George W. Bush.
Most recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
