In August 2018, socialist president Nicolas Maduro cut five zeroes off the weak bolivar currency and boosted the minimum wage thirty-fold in an effort to stabilize inflation; nonetheless, this has brought down purchasing power and has contributed to the flee of more than 2 million Venezuelans ever since 2015. Inflation has been a continuous and endless situation in Venezuela, critics blame years of government intervention in the economy through strict foreign exchange restrictions and price controls for the economic collapse, which has led to chronic shortages of food, medicine, and other basic goods. Maduro blames a U.S.-led "economic war" for Venezuela's woes, arguing that sanctions imposed by Washington are intended to destabilize his government and control the country's oil wealth. Local economists are concerned that inflation could increase more in the last two months of 2018; nonetheless, the International Monetary Fund expects hyperinflation to reach 10 million percent in 2019.
By Isabel G. Torres
By Isabel G. Torres
No comments:
Post a Comment