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"With no warning, Citibank says that in 30 days it will close the
Central Bank and the Bank of Venezuela's accounts," Maduro said in a
speech, adding that the government used the U.S. bank for
transactions in the United States and globally.
"Do you think they're going to stop us with a financial blockade?
No, gentlemen. Noone stops Venezuela."
Citibank, a unit of Citigroup Inc <C.N>, could not immediately be
reached for comment about the purported measure against Venezuela's
monetary authority and the Bank of Venezuela which is the biggest
state retail bank.
With the OPEC nation's economy immersed in crisis, various foreign
companies have been pulling out or reducing operations.
Critics say the socialist economics of Maduro and his predecessor
Hugo Chavez have been a disaster for Venezuela, while the government
blames its political foes and local businessmen for waging an
"economic war" against it.
Due to strict currency controls in place since 2003, the government
relies on Citibank for foreign currency transactions.
(Reporting by Diego Ore; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by
Andrew Hay)[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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