Shortage of cash in Venezuela gets worst with blackout
The situation is a chaos for Venezuelans after a blackout that left almost the entire country without electricity since Thursday afternoon
After the blackout of last Thursday afternoon, some areas of Caracas had electric service for hours and intermittently. Over the weekend Venezuelans made an effort to buy some food products.
The reality is really complex since the point of sale terminals are very slow or simply do not work because of the lack of Internet connectivity, so cash was the payment method par excellence required by most merchants.
But after almost seven months of the so-called monetary reconversion, the few bills that circulate in the street are not enough to pay the most basic purchases, in some cases, or even to pay public transportation system.
It should be noted that the limitations for the withdrawal of cash in the banks returned after a flexibilization between September and October. The banking entities limited to 1,000 bolivars the withdrawal by ticket office and to 500 bolivars by automatic tellers. So people must go to the bank daily to collect the money for elementary payments.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Venezuela continues to place in circulation low denomination bills such as 2 or 5 bolivars, which are no longer accepted even by the transportation system units.
L.Sáenz
Source: Banca & Negocios
