Inflation in Venezuela is starting to rival some of history’s most notorious economic debacles; hyperinflation has an annualised rate of 12,875%, prices are doubling every 52 days and the worst part: it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soonhttps://t.co/WBKDmA5FYI
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 6, 2018
Venezuela announces 99.6 percent devaluation of official forex rate
The central bank said the first auction of its new DICOM system yielded an exchange rate of 30,987.5 bolivars per euro, equivalent to around 25,000 per dollar.
That is a devaluation of 86.6 percent with respect to the previous DICOM rate and 99.6 percent from the subsidized rate of 10 bolivars per dollar, which was eliminated last week. (goo.gl/TRuF2Z)
How Fast Are Prices Skyrocketing in Venezuela? See Exhibit A: the Egg. With hyperinflation at 13,000%, eggs become essential to bartering (emphasis added)
Such is the ordeal in a country stricken with hyperinflation and a government so flummoxed on how to fix the distortions of its crumbling economy that it’s resorting to introducing what it says is a bitcoin-like cryptocurrency. The “petro” would eclipse the near worthless “strong bolivar,” which has lost 98% of its value against the dollar in the past year.
The problem is that in a country as broke as Venezuela, the government can’t print enough bills or pay the hefty fees for commercial printers to supply them. Paying with plastic? Credit-card readers seldom work.
Additionally, Venezuela Ranked Last in the Rule of Law Index 2017-2018.
And, another one from Steve Hanke,
A shortage of medical supplies in Venezuela has left many hospitals without the reagents to test blood for diseases. This has led to a burgeoning black market for blood, another public health crisis tearing through #Venezuela. https://t.co/Ym4SwB7Zus
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 6, 2018
Across the border,
The facility, opened Saturday near the border city of Cúcuta, is expected to provide shelter of up to 48 hours for 120 people a day. Pregnant mothers, the elderly and minors who entered the country legally will be given priority. It will be administered by the Red Cross.
And they come to stay: Once-rich Venezuelans live as beggars in Colombia, but they don’t want to go back. “Bogotá officials believe that as many as 600,000 Venezuelans are now living in Colombia.”
