The bolivar, the currency of Venezuela, was devalued by 21% against the dollar in a week, according to the report offered this Friday by the Central Bank of the country (BCV), which places the price of the US currency at 7.85 bolivars.
On the day of last Friday, the dollar closed at 6.18 bolivars in the official marketwhich represents an increase of the price of 27%, a rise that had not been seen in recent months and that has a direct impact on the prices of goods and services, calculated, for the most part, in the US currency.
On the other hand, the price of the dollar in the parallel market, which governs various transactions, increased 23% from 6.95 bolivars to 8.56 this weekwhich devalued the local currency by 18%, according to the Monitor Dollar Venezuela portal, which offers the daily price taking into account several markers.
The authorities had been making efforts to contain the official exchange rate and thus inflation, through the implementation of a strategy that consists of controlling the demand for dollarsreducing the emission of bolivars, necessary to buy foreign currency, through the reduction of public spending and the restriction of bank credits.
However, Luis Arturo Bárcenas, the chief economist of the Ecoanalítica firm, explained to Efe that the government of Nicolás Maduro recently carried out an “important injection” of bolivars into the economy after pressure from public workers, who have demanded the payment of labor benefits, in the midst of a lack of sufficient dollars to counteract the increase in demand for this currency.
The expert explained that Venezuela “faces problems generating foreign exchange in cash from oil sales” -its main source of income- due to financial sanctions imposed against Russia for the war in Ukrainesince a large part of the payments received by the Caribbean country go through the Eurasian giant.
According to Barcenas, the recent rise in the price of the dollar “reveals how fragile it is to maintain exchange stability through interventions for foreign exchange sales, without attacking the underlying problem“, which is, he pointed out, the lack of confidence and credibility of the Venezuelan in his currency and in the actions of the BCV.
After the price rise, some economists Inflation is expected to accelerate in Augustwhich registered monthly rates of 11.4% and 7.5%, respectively, in June and July, both highest increases so far this year.
