The banknote market, the "boom" of informal commerce in Venezuela



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Foto: Noticiascol

The shortage of cash to obtain paper money at a price three times higher than its nominal value, published El País .

The economic chaos generated by the Nicolás Maduro government has established an emergency habit in Venezuela: the direction of the street to buy money and be able to make payments when the numerical terms are not accepted. These transactions, without any regulation, are almost always executed at a price three or four times higher than their nominal value due to scarcity.

In a country where price growth presents a systemic lack of control, some transactions persist – the payment to day laborers of farms, transportation services, gasoline service or the amount of certain parking lots – which often do not accept payment by credit card.

Photo: Daily News and Hourly

The purchase of money is a management that requires planning and contacts. Some people, especially some entrepreneurs, are forced to make large ticket purchases for certain business activities, especially in rural areas where there are ongoing problems with services such as light.

Others are trying to fish for their own chaos, aware that there is a permanent demand, are organized to offer the market the bills that are generally not obtained, or that banks and ATMs are distributing increasingly thin discounts.

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it is offered in detail, by contacts, but often in the middle of the street: in Caracas, among others, on the Boulevard de Catia, a busy working area in the west from the city, or in high-turnover municipal markets such as Coche and Quinta Crespo. This week, for example, retirees inflated thousands of lines to collect their state allowances, and a protest was held in the downtown area when bank employees informed them that it was not possible There was not enough money. Meanwhile, very closely, in the Plaza de la Candelaria, informal vendors offered notes at three times their face value.

José Guerra, economist and deputy, former head of the Central Bank, notes that the purchase of money and the shortages of valid banknotes in the country, finds support in a fundamental feature: l & rsquo; Venezuelan hyperinflation is the first that occurs in the era of digitization. "There is money," says Guerra. "The uncontrolled issue of money is what causes prices to rise.What 's not there, it' s cash."

Foto / Globovisión

Most transactions are executed with payments and electronic transfers. "The hyperinflation triggers an uncontrolled demand for nominal currency.In 2008, for example, 33% of Venezuelan liquidity was expressed in bills.At the moment, the money is 2%," says Guerra. The lack of money is based on a complete lack of price control, which produces a relative insufficiency compared to the goods that can be purchased. The government issued a banknote of 100,000 bolivars, with which five commodities from the basic basket could be purchased last year. Today, we could buy one, if there is one. "

El País information.

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