VENEZUELA
The ‘Strong’ Banknotes
Business ground to a halt in Venezuela Tuesday as citizens and shopkeepers struggled to deal with the introduction of a new currency called the “sovereign bolivar.”
Thousands of firms remained closed and many workers stayed home as a result, the BBC reported.
A reaction to – and supposed cure for – runaway inflation, the “sovereign bolivar” chops five zeros off the inaptly named “strong bolivar,” so a cup of coffee that used to cost 2.5 million strong bolivars now costs 25 sovereign bolivars. Citizens said they were restricted from withdrawing more than 10 sovereign bolivars from bank machines on Tuesday, however.
An opposition call for nationwide protests was only partially successful, the Washington Post reported.
There are already signs that the devaluation and President Nicolas Maduro’s other recently announced measures won’t solve the problem, as prices for some goods have already doubled since the announcement of the new currency on Friday.
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