CARACAS, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's Vice-President, Tareck El Aissami, said on Friday that the country had allowed three currency exchange companies to receive international remittances.

At a press conference, he said that the currency exchange companies, namely Grupo Zoom, Italcambio and Insular, had been authorized "to realize all operations associated with remittances."

In May, the government announced a move to allow the sector to more easily handle international operations.

"These are the three operators legally empowered for this type of transaction: receiving foreign currency on the national market for remittances," added El Aissami.

Between them, the three groups have 124 agencies across Venezuela and already have links to international currency operators, such as Western Union and MoneyGram.

El Aissami said that these official operators were authorized "so people don't fall into the hands of the mafia who impose criminal taxes on the dollar."

For the last 15 years, Venezuela has maintained strict control on currency exchanges, leading to a black market where money is exchanged for as much as 10 times the official rate.

The only way to obtain foreign currency in the country is through the official exchange mechanism, Dicom, which sets an exchange limit of 1,680 euros a year for individuals and 340,000 euros a month for companies.