The first months of 2010 have proved testing for Venezuela's ferrous and non-ferrous sectors. The year began with the implementation the country's power-saving programme - announced just before Christmas - which has reduced industrial output and restricted energy supplies. President Hugo Chávez then devalued the local currency, which had been fixed for almost five years at 2.15 Bolivares per US dollar, and introduced two rates of exchange: one at 2.60 to be used for essential imports, such as food and medicine; and the other at a rate of 4.30 to be used for non-essential imports, such as metals, cars, and chemicals. The goal is to begin a process of imports substitution and to stimulate productivity in local industry, according to the president. But critics say Chávez wants to gain more money from oil exports and that these policies will undoubtedly increase the country's rate of inflation - which stood at 25.1% for the whole of 2009, according to figures from the Venezuelan central bank. Adding to domestic instability, the government has closed a number of stores and commercial businesses because of what it described as "speculation". They had allegedly increased prices, heedless of Chávez's request that pricing levels remain stationary in a bid to keep inflation under control following the Bolivar's devaluation. Several high-profile resignations within the government, including the minister of public banking, who stepped down because of "health problems", also suggest internal divisions within the Chávez government. On February 1, a group of former presidential allies published a letter requesting the president step down. Among the signatories were the former minister of the interior and minister of foreign...