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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, @08:21PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 14 2016, @08:21PM (#441406) Journal

    Sometimes I forget that links are seldom followed.

    It's nothing to do with the link. And the AC said this better than I would have.

    I wanted readers to notice that there was a U.S. example from before the Obama administration; that it didn't involve devaluation, happened over many years, and didn't cause chaos is something that the Indian and Venezuelan governments might have done well to note.

    The problem here is twofold. First, as the AC noted, these old US bank notes weren't generally carried around by people for regular cash expenditures and the change was merely because the bills had become obsolete. So it isn't a US example from before.
    ,br> Second, the point of the Indian and Venezuelan approaches were to cause unexpected disruption. They wanted to screw over cash holders (like inflation somehow weren't good enough on its own) and you can't do that via bill replacement, if you warn them ahead of time. The shock and awe is a necessary part of the strategy. They just didn't expect and/or care about the blowback.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @08:32PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 14 2016, @08:32PM (#441408)

    Actually, now that I think about it, there was a similar circumstance in the history of the US: Executive Order 6102, which made holding gold illegal, signed by FDR.

  • (Score: 1) by butthurt on Wednesday December 14 2016, @11:05PM

    by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday December 14 2016, @11:05PM (#441459) Journal

    > It's nothing to do with the link.

    I assumed that you wouldn't have made the comment you had, if you had read that page.

    > Second, the point of the Indian and Venezuelan approaches were to cause unexpected disruption.

    You're probably right about that. I hadn't grasped that that could be the intention.