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posted by janrinok on Wednesday December 14 2016, @12:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the toilet-paper-is-worth-more dept.

The BBC Reports:

In a surprise announcement, [President Nicolas] Maduro said on Sunday that the 100-bolivar note, worth about 2 US cents (£0.015) on the black market, would be taken out of circulation on Wednesday.

The president said the aim was to tackle transnational gangs which hoard the Venezuelan notes abroad, a move he has in the past described as part of the "economic war" being waged against his government. [...] He said part of the plan was to block any of the 100-bolivar notes from being taken back into the country so the gangs would be unable to exchange their hoarded bills, making them worthless.

"I have given the orders to close all land, maritime and air possibilities so those bills taken out can't be returned and they're stuck with their fraud abroad," he said speaking on television.

Venezuela's currency has fallen dramatically amid skyrocketing inflation.

[...] Analysts say the move is likely to worsen the cash crunch in Venezuela, where people have already been limited in the amount of cash they can take out at automated teller machines. Venezuelans have only been given 10 days to exchange their 100-bolivar notes for new coins and bills ranging from 500 to 20,000 bolivars due to be introduced from 15 December.


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 14 2016, @01:37AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 14 2016, @01:37AM (#441115) Journal

    100 bolivar equals about $10 US

    Remember the rule of exchange valuation:

    Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.

    -- Publilius Syrus

    You're not going to get $10 for that on the black market. That should tell you all you need to know. If there was a viable exchange for $10, then someone could just buy a bunch of US dollars and then purchase bolivar on the black market. Lather, rinse, repeat. It wouldn't take long for the black market to match.

    I'm sure the well connected people get better exchange rates. But everyone else is getting those spectacularly bad black market rates.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Francis on Wednesday December 14 2016, @05:00AM

    by Francis (5544) on Wednesday December 14 2016, @05:00AM (#441183)

    They don't need to be good, they just need to be better. China has a similar situation where there are limits on exchanging cash as part of its effort to maintain a favorable exchange rate.

    If you know where to go there are unofficial exchanges that pay better rates. My guess id's that they're mostly a way of laundering money.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @12:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @12:07PM (#441239)

      You know that when they limit how much cash you can transfer out of Yuan and into $US, that keeps the value of the Yuan higher...

      Don't let simple facts get in the way of your China bashing though.

      • (Score: 1) by Francis on Wednesday December 14 2016, @04:07PM

        by Francis (5544) on Wednesday December 14 2016, @04:07PM (#441304)

        No, you can't. There are limits on that, there are also limits on how much cash you can take across the border as well as how much you can transfer. I lived there for over a year, you don't think it occurred to me to inquire about how to repatriate my money when I was done?

        Just out of curiosity, how much is the Chinese government paying you to post that BS?