UPDATE 2-Venezuela devaluation rumour, economic announcement due

CARACAS, Jan 8 (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's government is about to make an important economic announcement, a senior official told Reuters on Friday, fuelling market expections a devaluation of the bolivar currency was imminent.

The bolivar has been fixed at 2.15 to the U.S. dollar since 2005, but it trades on a parallel black market at way over that rate. The bolivar weakened on Friday from about 5.90 to 6.10 to the dollar in parallel trade, on the rumours of a devaluation.

'Today's move in the parallel market has been mainly due to expectations in the financial market -- non-official and not confirmed -- of a possible devaluation this weekend,' one trader said in an email communication to clients.

President Hugo Chavez, who has been resisting pressure for a devaulation from business groups, was due to hold a cabinet meeting from 5 p.m. (1630 EST/2130 GMT) on Friday.

A senior member of Chavez's economic team told Reuters that an announcement of some sort was coming. Asked if it could be a devaluation, he said: 'Yes, of course, we must be on alert.'

Economists have long said Venezuela's bolivar is over-valued at the official rate, but most had thought Chavez would be unlikely to devalue in an election year.

He faces a parliamentary election in September.



DUAL RATE?

Some local economists have floated the idea of a so-called 'dual currency', under which importers of essential goods like food and medicines would have access to dollars at a preferential rate, and others at another higher level.

The El Nacional daily newspaper quoted sources close to the government as saying a devaluation was imminent, with a dual rate of 2.60 for some basics, and 4.30 for others.

'The intention, the sources said, is to stop the rise of the dollar in the so-called swap (parallel) market,' the newspaper said on its web site.

A devaluation, while helping exporters and boosting government coffers from oil revenues, would add pressure to Venezuela's inflation rate, which in 2009 was already the highest in the Americas at 25.1 percent.

That impact, however, would be mitigated by the fact that many importers already use the parallel rate anyway, as access to dollars at the official level is strictly controlled.

Venezuela last devalued its currency in 2005, to 2,150 bolivars per dollar from 1,920 bolivars. In 2008, the government re-denominated the currency, lopping off three digits.

The government seeks to limit the impact of inflation on Venezuela's 28 million people by subsidising food and gasoline, offering some free services including health clinics, and decreeing frequent increases to the minimum wage.

Venezuela's widely-traded benchmark 2027 global bond was up 0.125 points to bid 78.750 on Friday, giving a yield of 12.203.

(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Patricia Rondon, Andrew Cawthorne and Frank Jack Daniel) Keywords: VENEZUELA ECONOMY/ ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.