Hyperinflation in Venezuela: a pile of tickets to pay a lunch

The social situation in Venezuela is at its limit. With "Operation Freedom" seeking to overthrow Nicolás Maduro's regime started a civil uprising of a people who can not stand the tension in which they live.

That's why Nelson Castro, the correspondent for TN traveled to Caracas to show closely what is happening in the country. And while working with the entire team, everyday situations also involve it. How to pay for lunch, which has become a real odyssey.

In a restaurant in Caracas, Nelson and his team received the bill after ordering an appetizer, three courses and a few drinks. They had to pay 214,350 bolivars, or 1,848.70 Argentine pesos.

For the change that the place took them (5,500 bolivars), they meant 38.97 dollars. When the waiter came back to accuse them, Nelson He took out a pile of banknotes of different colors, in which he barely collected a hundred thousand bolivars., equivalent to $ 18.18.

Complicated by the change, Nelson chose to use a $ 20 bill to pay for what was missing. That is 110,000 of the Venezuelan currency. The sum was 210,000 bolivars, so There was always a difference to pay the bill, not to mention the tip.

The server echoed the situation. "What a difference, huh!"he said when he saw that an entire pylon in his room was equivalent to a mere $ 20 bill.

Venezuela recorded an inflation rate of 18.1% during the month of March, for a cumulative rate of 429.3% for the same period in December. an interannual variation of 1 623 656% from March 2018 to the same period of 2019, according to the opposition National Assembly.

That's why the Maduro government announced two days ago that the minimum wage in that country had gone from 18,000 to 40,000 bolivars, although the IMF forecasts inflation of 10 000 000% by the end of the year.