--- description: Venezuela's President says the global financial institution Citibank is about to close his government's foreign currency accounts. title: Venezuela Says Citibank Will Close Key Government Accounts image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb89bf8106817e481/69889b860b72e30c676ea267/rtshh2y.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Venezuela](/tag/venezuela/) ## Venezuela Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Venezuela's President Says Citibank Will Close Government Accounts Amid Financial Crisis by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 12, 2016 5:48 AM CUT  Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a Council of Ministers meeting at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela July 11, 2016 Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a Council of Ministers meeting at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela July 11, 2016Reuters by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 12, 2016 5:48 AM CUT Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro [said](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-citibank-idUSKCN0ZS04E "undefined") the global financial institution Citibank is about to close his government’s foreign currency accounts amid a [financial crisis](http://time.com/4342329/venezuela-economic-collapse-nicolas-maduro/ "undefined") sparked by the slump in global oil prices. Reuters reports that the New York-headquartered bank has not itself confirmed the closures. But Maduro said in a speech Monday that his government had been warned accounts belonging to the Central Bank and the Bank of Venezuela — which the government uses for transactions in the U.S. and globally — would be shut in 30 days. “Do you think they’re going to stop us with a financial blockade?” Maduro asked. “No, gentlemen. No one stops Venezuela.” Venezuela’s economy is in [crisis](http://time.com/4348972/venezuela-goes-from-bad-to-catastrophe/ "undefined"). Some international companies are [ceasing](http://time.com/4402218/venezuela-consumer-goods-crisis-kimberly-clark-factory/ "undefined") their operations due to supply shortages that, along with a scarcity of food and other essentials, are linked to a lack of foreign currency. Although precipitated by the decline in revenues from oil, the economic crisis has also been blamed on mismanagement by the leftist government of Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez in 2013. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-citibank-idUSKCN0ZS04E "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4402296/venezuela-citibank-maduro-accounts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4402296/venezuela-citibank-maduro-accounts/"},"headline":"Venezuela's President Says Citibank Will Close Government Accounts Amid Financial Crisis","datePublished":"2016-07-12T05:48:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:11:18.753Z","description":"Nicolás Maduro called the move a \"financial blockade\"","url":"https://time.com/4402296/venezuela-citibank-maduro-accounts/","keywords":["Venezuela","Nicolás Maduro","Citibank"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb89bf8106817e481/69889b860b72e30c676ea267/rtshh2y.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simon Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb89bf8106817e481/69889b860b72e30c676ea267/rtshh2y.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a Council of Ministers meeting at Miraflores Palace in Caracas","caption":"Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a Council of Ministers meeting at Miraflores Palace in Caracas","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/venezuela/","name":"Venezuela"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4402296/venezuela-citibank-maduro-accounts/","name":"Venezuela's President Says Citibank Will Close Government Accounts Amid Financial Crisis"}}]}] ```