Venezuelans scrape by as dollar 12%-hike hits their pockets

Record ID: 1686134

  • Title: Venezuelans scrape by as dollar 12%-hike hits their pockets
  • Date: 25th August 2022
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL, NORA DUARTE, SAYING: “It’s quite difficult, it’s a difficult situation. Everything goes up, (prices) are skyrocketing and they don’t respect the Central Bank’s rules as (the dollar) is edging the other one (black dollar). So I think there should be a salary rise and economy regulations because we can’t keep having two countries – ones accommodated and others struggling.” PEOPLE BUYING PRODUCE AND FRUITS IN SHOP PERSON CHECKING OUT AT CASH REGISTER CASHIER GIVING CHANGE TO CONSUMER CONSUMER AT CASH REGISTER PEOPLE CHECKING OUT IN SUPERMARKET ECONOMIST LEONARDO VERA DURING INTERVIEW (NOT A SOUNDBITE) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ECONOMIST, LEONARDO VERA, SAYING: “Although Venezuela doesn’t have hyperinflation, it still has a high inflation rate, and this decreases incomes' purchasing power.” PEOPLE BUYING AT BUTCHER’S SHOP CASHIER GIVING CHANGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING VEGETABLES AND FRUITS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ECONOMIST, LEONARDO VERA, SAYING: “We already have a high inflation in Venezuela, and we could have a higher inflation in Venezuela, because when the exchange rate jumps, prices immediately scale up. So right now, the exchange market is telling us – because the exchange market is a flagging mechanism – what it’s telling is the exchange market is not faring well.” PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL, ALICIA RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: “We are the ones affected because most of our income is in bolivares. Therefore, when I go shopping, a product from a hardware store that used to cost 3 dollars now costs 18 bolivares. Today I had to pay almost 22 bolivares for it. So it’s difficult. Plus, I live off a pension, what can I do with a pension?” PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET RESTAURANT MENU WITH PRICES PERSON PAYING IN RESTAURANT PEOPLE SITTING IN RESTAURANT’S TERRACE
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2022 20:52
  • Keywords: Bolivar Dollar Exchange rate Inflation Venezuela
  • Location: CARACAS, ADICORA, VENEZUELA
  • City: CARACAS, ADICORA, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Currencies/Foreign Exchange Markets,South America / Central America,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA003072425082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Venezuelans’ in Caracas said on Thursday (August 25) they scrape by as the dollar exchange rate rose 12% in five days after the Central Bank announced Venezuela had an unseen economic growth in the region for the first quarter of 2022.
    President Nicolas Maduro used the exchange rate to tame inflation.
    But in recent weeks, a slower currency demand along with higher public expenditures send the dollar exchange rate 12% up, widening the gap with the black market.
    Venezuela's economy grew 17.04% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, the highest growth in the region, the country's Central Bank said on Tuesday (August 23).
    Although inflation has eased, it hit 137% in July, according to that institution.
    But the economist Leonardo Vera said the exchange market is issuing a red flag as it could send prices up.
    A pensioner doing groceries in the capital city, Alicia Rodriguez, said she had to pay 22 bolivares (3 dollars) for a product that used to cost 18.
    Maduro said that "a group of evil people" are trying to "disrupt the economic recovery."
    "They are increasing the dollar price on the black market in a fictitious and false way so that a group of unscrupulous traders can come and steal from the people, do not allow this; enough speculation, we are going to fight back," he added in a speech broadcast on the state television channel on Thursday night.
    The South American country's economy has been submerged in a severe recession since 2014 while battling high inflation.
    Faced with lower oil production and U.S. sanctions, the government of President Nicolas Maduro in 2019 relaxed the controls on the economy, which were one of the factors behind the economic collapse.
    Since then, de facto dollarization has given a breath of new life to sectors such as manufacturing, commerce and services.
    (Production: Johnny Carvajal, Efrain Otero, Anna Portella)
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