Alerta – Función Técnica Enero 2014
Espiñeira Pacheco y Asociados
Exchange Rates in Venezuela – IAS 21 During December 2013, the Venezuelan government issued a new rule allowing the Central Bank to publish the average SICAD rate for each auction. During the weeks of 23 December and 30 December the Central Bank published on its web page the average exchange rate obtained from 'auctions' number 13 and 14 (11,30 VEF/1 USD). a) Exchange rate to be used when valuating monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency. There are now two published exchange rates in Venezuela that qualify as a spot rate and can be used for valuation under IAS 21. Management should apply judgment to determine which rate (SICAD or CADIVI) best reflects the “rate at which the future cash flows represented by the transaction or balance could have been settled if those cash flows had occurred at the measurement date.” (IAS 21, par 26).
However, there might be circumstances in which it is not clear which exchange rate to use. Where entities are not allowed to use CADIVI and are not permitted to use SICAD because they are not in the nominated sectors for the auctions, or because it is only available for prospective transactions, management should use judgment to determine which rate is appropriate to valuate their monetary assets and liabilities; and transactions denominated in foreign currency. In doing so, management may want to consider the view of the relevant regulator.
The rate used and the accounting implications should be disclosed clearly if the impact is significant. The choice of rate might also be a significant accounting judgment that requires additional disclosure and management should consider disclosing the sensitivity of the balances in foreign currency using the alternative exchange rate.
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