Long queues were observed at the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) on Wednesday. It was about dozens of Bolivians waiting their turn to be able to buy Dollars amid an environment of uncertainty due to a possible shortage of the US currency.
According to the Bloomberg agency, people came to form a line that was up to three squares long in front of the bank’s headquarters in La Paz.
The situation arose after the reports on the decrease in the level of Net International Reserves were known. These at the beginning of February were around US$3.8 billion, far from the US$15.5 billion of 2014.
Days ago, this week, the aforementioned central bank began to sell dollars to the public directly due to an increase in demand of this foreign currency.
This is added to the sale of dollars through Banco Unión, which is controlled by the Bolivian State.
In this context, some people who were waiting in line indicated that they were looking to make the change as a precaution.
Others affirmed that they were waiting after trying to buy dollars in private banks, but without success.
The greater demand for dollars has also come up against the rise of foreign currency on the black market, since in this there is a rate of 7.15 Bolivian pesos, above the 6.96 quoted in the central bank.
Nervousness is also part of the fall in Bolivian dollar bonds due 2028, which fell 1.3 cents to 68.8 cents on the dollar.
Bonds had previously fallen last week, surpassing the pandemic record low. On Monday they were trading near 70 cents, their lowest level since 2017, while at that time the reserves of the Central Bank of Bolivia sank to a minimum of 15 years.
In this regard, the president of the BCB, Edwin Rojas, pointed out that there is “speculation” and minimized the situation and the discomfort of the users.
He assured that his country’s economy is “stable” and that it is in the process of recovery.
A similar attitude had already been expressed by the Minister of Finance, Marcelo Montenegro, who last week asked citizens to reduce demand for the greenback and blamed speculation.
