Thursday, August 26, 2021

Venezuelan Currency

So many times on this blog I've talked about inflationary and hyperinflationary currency; how, if you have too many zeroes on your money, that's a sign that something is terribly wrong.

In 2018 Venezuela lopped 5 zeroes off its currency, yet today that currency is still valued at 4.17 million bolivars to the US dollar:

I received my latest eBay order today.  For being worth less than the paper they're printed on, those notes sure are pretty, aren't they?

Things are bad in Venezuela, and lopping off more zeroes isn't going to fix their problem:

Venezuela says it will make a million-to-1 change in its currency soon, eliminating six zeros from prices in the local currency as hyperinflation continues to plague the troubled South American nation.

Venezuela’s central bank on Thursday announced the change to the bolivar will go into effect Oct. 1.

The new 100 bolivar bill will be the highest denomination. It is equivalent to 100,000,000 of the current bolivar.

This is the third adjustment since socialist leaders began governing Venezuela. The bolivar lost three zeros in 2008 under now-deceased President Hugo Chávez, while his successor, Nicolás Maduro, eliminated five zeros in 2018.

Venezuela is in its sixth year of recession. Millions live in poverty, with high food prices that are commonly set in U.S. dollars and low wages.

The 1 million bolivar bill is currently the highest denomination, but it is scarce. More than seven of those bills are needed to buy a 1.3-gallon (5-liter) bottle of water,which cost 7.4 million bolivars or $1.84 dollars on Thursday.

This isn't the first time in recent history they've lopped off zeroes:

The government announced on 7 March 2007 that the bolívar would be revalued at a ratio of 1,000 to 1 on 1 January 2008 and renamed the bolívar fuerte in an effort to facilitate the ease of transaction and accounting...

The revaluation was rescheduled to 20 August 2018, and the rate changed to 100,000 to 1, with prices being required to be expressed at the new rate starting 1 August 2018.

And now they're excising 6 more zeroes.  3+5+6=14.  14 zeroes.  What could be the cause of this?  Hint:  it starts with "s" and rhymes with "motialism".

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