The Central Bank of Venezuela’s report on the price increase for the first quarter of the year places the indicator at 71.8 %.

According to the official figures published on Thursday, April 9, by the BCV on its website, “prices increased 13.1 % in March, while in February inflation was 14.6% and in January 32.6 %.”

In detail, the transportation sector saw the largest increase last month, with a rise of 15.6 %. Next are: housing services, excluding telephone (15 %), recreation and culture (14.5 %), household equipment, and restaurants and hotels (13.3 %).

 

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Regarding food and non-alcoholic beverages, key sectors for the population’s quality of life, prices registered a 12.6 % increase.

According to the regulatory body, “Venezuela has accumulated twelve months with double-digit inflation rates, with January’s being the highest in that period, as well as the highest in exactly three years.”

One of the main causes for the price increase is the rise in the dollar exchange rate. “The price of the dollar on the official market went from 301.37 to 473.87 bolivars in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 57.2 %, which also represents a 36.4 % devaluation of the Venezuelan currency, the bolivar, against the US dollar.”

On the other hand, the monthly minimum wage has been 130 bolivars since March 2022, and it faces constant erosion due to inflation and devaluation.

M.Pino

Source: alnavio

(Reference image source: Chau Le on Unsplash)

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Salaries in Spain will rise by around 5 % in 2026, according to projections published by Randstad Research, Randstad’s research center.

According to the study, the projections are based on data on compensation in eight geographic locations: Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Seville, Valencia, A Coruña, Málaga, Bilbao, and Zaragoza. These statistics identify “salary ranges for almost 400 relevant positions in fourteen sectors and professional areas.”

Miguel Mercado, National Director of Randstad Professional, stated that “the changes affecting the Spanish economy and labor market during 2025, particularly the talent shortage and inflation, have led to greater dynamism in salary trends, and we estimate an average salary increase of around 5 % for next year.”

During 2025, the Spanish labor market has shown signs of stabilization after a period of high uncertainty. Furthermore, inflation has moderated, but “the cumulative effects of geopolitical tensions, the rising cost of living, and the slowdown in European growth continue to influence the economy’s performance.”

However, significant challenges remain related to the technological transformation driven by AI, as well as advanced automation and the digitalization of production processes.

M.Pino

Source: diariofinanciero     

(Reference image: Layo Animals on Unsplash)

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The first half of 2025 closes for Bancamiga with exceptional performance and strong leadership, which enabled it to achieve 192.58 % growth in its gross loan portfolio, 127.87 % growth in its total deposits, and 354.23 % growth in its financial revenues.

These results are driven by the vision of being the best and largest private bank in the country, recognized for its digital platform and financial strength, offering a unique experience that blends service quality with the efficiency of the banking sector of the future.

The increase in its loan portfolio positions Bancamiga as the sixth-largest banking institution in the country in this important indicator, achieving a 6.16% market share in the Venezuelan Banking System (SBV) and 9.39 % in the private sector. Year-over-year, it has the highest growth, with 544.78 % in the large sector.

This was a semester in which the quality of its loan portfolio also stands out. Its late payment rate of just 1.30 % was lower than the SBV average.

With these loan portfolio figures, Bancamiga reaffirms its commitment to driving growth for its personal and legal clients with innovative products and services that meet their needs and expectations.

Top 3 in foreign currency deposits

In these first six months of the year, Bancamiga reached one million customers, continued to offer friendly and secure financial solutions, and its Mobile Bancamiga celebrated its second anniversary across the country to reach more Venezuelans and support them on their path to financial inclusion.

This daily effort by more than 1,000 employees across the country enabled total deposits to increase by 127.87 % compared to December 2024, placing Bancamiga as the institution with the highest relative growth in the large stratum.

Year-on-year, deposits from the public experienced a 253.91 % increase, allowing Bancamiga to achieve a 5.45 % market share, ranking sixth in the national ranking and above the annual variation reflected by the SBV and private banks.

Among the range of deposits from the public, foreign currency stands out, a sector where Bancamiga ranks among the top three private banks, with an absorption rate of 13.08 % and 7.54 % of the Venezuelan Banking System.

In June alone, Bancamiga ranked as the bank with the highest proportion of deposits in foreign currency, with 53.01 %. In annual terms, it absorbed 0.85 percentage points of private banking and 0.57 of the SBV.

Increasing financial revenue

To be one of the country’s leading financial institutions in such a competitive market, it is essential to shine. This must be achieved with products that set the pace, as Bancamiga does with its Debit Mastercard, which, supported by contactless technology, allows customers to make online purchases, subscribe to streaming platforms, pay at national and international points of sale, and withdraw from ATMs abroad. The bank explains in a statement.

This also includes innovations such as the tokenization of its cards in its versatile Bancamiga Suite app, which allows for mobile purchases. It also includes its nearly 200,000 modern points of sale across the country, which allow users to pay for and recharge telephone and television services, play the lottery, and stamp their 5y6 cards, among other features.

Thus, by shining in this way, Bancamiga managed to record a semiannual increase in its financial income of 354.23 %, a figure that clearly surpassed the 280.48 % of the SBV, and positioned itself among the top four private banks and the top five in the SBV, with a market share of 10.20 % and 6.53 %, respectively.

This performance supports and consolidates Bancamiga as one of the leading institutions in the Venezuelan financial system, with a semiannual increase of 2,345.27 % in bolivars and 964% in dollars, the highest relative growth in the system in both currencies.

With these results, Bancamiga climbs two positions in terms of profitability, ranking eighth nationwide in June 2025. Year-on-year, the cumulative growth was 1,636.96 %. And to highlight its efficiency and operational solidity, it is worth noting that it posted a return on equity (ROE) of 32.38 % and a return on assets (ROA) of 4.53 %.

There is no doubt that in this first half of 2025, Bancamiga reaffirmed its position as a cutting-edge banking institution, a pioneer in products and services, committed to a smarter, more sustainable future, and which, with its financial solutions, seeks to improve the quality of life of Venezuelan society every day.

With information and reference images provided by Bancamiga Banco Universal

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When they reach retirement age, workers become dependent on the income represented by their pension. In the European Union countries, the highest allowance is in Luxembourg, where retirees receive €31,385. The lowest is in Bulgaria, where pensioners receive €3,611 annually.

The difference in amounts leaves open the door to debate about the quality of life of retirees, since in most cases they depend exclusively on their pension.

The most recent data from Eurostat and the OECD “show that this is a problem that knows no borders: the average pension in the EU was around €16,128 in 2022, which translates to €1,345 per month.”

Concentrating the data solely on the EU, as mentioned, the lowest pension is found in Bulgaria and the highest in Luxembourg, with allowances of €3,611 per year and €31,385 per year, respectively.

However, a broader analysis, including the candidate countries and those of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), shows that “Albania is the country with the lowest retirement pension in Europe, at just €1,648 per year (€137 per month), a huge difference of more than €38,000 compared to Iceland, where it is close to €36,000 per year (€2,997 per month), according to the latest Eurostat data.”

Norway and Denmark, on the other hand, have pensions above 30,000 euros. In Sweden and Finland, the annual payment is 22,436 and 21,085 euros, respectively.

Other countries also considered are Turkey, 2,942 euros per year; Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3,041 euros per year; Serbia, 3,486 euros per year; Montenegro, 3,962 euros per year.

M.Pino

Source: eleconomista

(Reference image source: Immo Wegmann on Unsplash)

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La entrada Pension payments remain a challenge for EU countries apareció primero en Bitfinance.

Efforts to improve the quality of life of citizens in Santiago de Chile have borne fruit. The city was recently named the smartest in Latin America and number 91 globally by the IESE Cities in Motion (ICIM) index.

Currently, as a point worth highlighting, Santiago de Chile is “the city in the world with the most electric buses outside of China.” It has a fleet of “2,400 zero-emission, high-standard units, with air conditioning, security cameras, WiFi, USB chargers and universal accessibility.”

These transport units, in addition to the three new metro lines under construction, have helped to significantly reduce travel times from remote communes in the Metropolitan Region such as La Granja, San Miguel, San Ramón, San Joaquín, La Florida, La Pintana and Pedro Aguirre Cerda.

In relation to this aspect, at the beginning of 2024, the environmental engineer and expert in the implementation of sustainable transport policies at the Chalmers University of Technology, Frances Sprei, toured the country, and was able to appreciate the advances in electromobility in the Chilean capital at the 2024 edition of Congreso Futuro.

At that time, she said: “I find it impressive that Santiago has such a high number of electric buses and is one of the pioneering cities in this area. I think it is a very good initiative that shows that these advances can be applied not only in Europe or China. It is an example that should be spread.”

M.Pino

Source: infobae

(Reference image source: Francisco Kemeny in Unsplash)

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Despite the energy of the Zulian who supported his team at all times, the Navegantes del Magallanes ninth team beat the Águilas del Zulia 7-3 on Tuesday night, reaching the Bancamiga Cup for the first time.

Two weeks ago, Navegantes made a first attempt to add the Cup to their awards, but fell to the Leones at the Monumental Simón Bolívar stadium in La Rinconada. Last night everything was different.

Bancamiga’s Marketing VP, Paula Vargas, made the initial launch and at the end handed the trophy to manager Ramón Hernández. It was a day in which Bancamiga had a high brand positioning, which began early with a media tour and continued later in the stadium with different activations that included prizes.

The public had the opportunity to open their accounts in bolivars and foreign currency at Bancamiga Móvil, strategically located at the Luis Aparicio stadium, and receive the Mastercard Debit Card, which with Contactless technology allows you to make online purchases and pay consumption abroad. He was also able to immediately acquire the Bancamiga Points of Sale, which, in alliance with Soluciones Integrales Tecnológica SITCA, are the most modern and versatile on the market.

The innovative payment bracelet of the Águilas, which, among other advantages, allows you to buy food and drinks in the stadium, was one of the aspects that stood out the most during the day.

At the meeting, Bancamiga carried out four activations in episodes two, four, six and eight that excited the attendees. The presence of the Bancamiga Móvil, which will be this week in Maracaibo, an inflatable, pennants, promoters and the dolls dressed as a Mastercard Debit Card and a Bancamiga Point of Sale made the game special.

Bancamiga: raising people’s quality of life and promoting the construction of a better country

The Executive President of Bancamiga Banco Universal, Ariel José Martínez, said that baseball is the main pastime of Venezuelans and for the financial institution it is essential to support initiatives that bring recreation and well-being, especially on dates full of unity and peace such as those of the December holidays.

“With our financial solutions and support for sectors such as sports, we are sure that we raise people’s quality of life and promote the construction of a better country,” he indicated.

Martínez recalled that Bancamiga and Águilas del Zulia maintain a close alliance, which allowed 112 children from the Águilas del Zulia Academy to compete in the Bancamiga-Simple TV Mini Cup, at the close of the 2023 season in the month of July. And this Tuesday, dozens of children belonging to the Águilas Vamos al Estadio and the School goes to the Stadium initiatives witnessed the sporting clash.

The imposing 54-centimeter glass, which Navegantes added to his conquests, reflects the solidity and innovative character of Bancamiga, two characteristics that have become synonymous with the institution.

Bancamiga currently has two agencies in the state of Zulia, one located in the Bulevar Delicias shopping center, in Maracaibo; and another in the Oliva shopping center in Ciudad Ojeda, in addition to an External Ticket Office in the main building of Corpoelec, in the northern area of ​​Maracaibo. It is expected that in 2024 it will open an agency in San Francisco.

With information and images from Bancamiga

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La entrada Navegantes del Magallanes got a new trophy: the Bancamiga Cup apareció primero en Bitfinance.

An investigation carried out by the Interactuar Corporation with the purpose of knowing the economic and social conditions of entrepreneurs in Colombia showed that micro-enterprises in that country are showing “signs of recovery” after the pandemic since they managed to generate an “average 2.7 jobs”. The figure is equivalent to 2019 before the emergence of Covid-19.

Andrea Zuluaga, director of business transformation at Interactuar, explained that “microenterprises have been recovering after the pandemic in terms of employment.” As well as in the time of permanence in the market of “going from an average of 8.8 years in 2019 to registering 12.8 years in 2021”.

The purpose of Interactuar Corporation is to accompany microenterprise entrepreneurs and businessmen in Colombia with a comprehensive model and currently accompanies 49,000 entrepreneurs and supports the creation of microenterprises in 220 Colombian municipalities.

The study also made it possible to determine the inequality gaps suffered by Colombian entrepreneurs served by the Corporation, where “51% of micro-enterprises are in conditions of poverty and vulnerability, since0 7.8% of these entrepreneurs advised are in conditions of extreme poverty with a member of the household with an income of less than 163,000 pesos per month (about 43 dollars).”

Improving the quality of life of microentrepreneurs

The study also made it possible to measure the evolution of sales in the Colombian market and determined that they are below the figures achieved before the pandemic. There was a decrease in the monthly average of sales from “5.5 legal monthly minimum wages in force in 2019 to 3.4 in 2021”.

According to what was expressed by Zuluaga, “there is growth in sales, but it has not reached the levels it was in 2019” who highlighted that there are in the country “many gaps in the part of income equity and gaps in quality of life“.

The data provided by the study also show that entrepreneurship can be an option to improve the quality of life of entrepreneurs. The figures indicate that “90 % of the entrepreneurs consulted considered that their business has helped them to have a good diet, while 63.5 % stated that it has allowed them to improve their health conditions and 53 % their housing conditions.

Another variable addressed in the research was labor, which is quite complex and the figures show it. Barely 12.3 % of microentrepreneurs indicated that their workers are affiliated with social security and only 7.8 % are affiliated with the compensation fund. While 62% of entrepreneurs indicated that their business is the only source of income for their households.

Zuluaga highlighted “the micro is the great engine of employment generation in the country, but it also has the highest levels of informality”

M. Rodríguez

With information from efe.com and other international agencies

La entrada Colombian microenterprises generate an average of 2.7 jobs apareció primero en Bitfinance.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledged that the country is experiencing a bad economic situation, urging senior officials to focus on improving the “quality of life” of the population.

In the framework of the celebration of the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party, Kim described the current situation as “gloomy”, stating that the country faces great challenges when it comes to developing the state economy and achieving the objectives set.

The anniversary celebration was held in Pyongyang, the country’s capital, in an event with fireworks and various musical performances, according to the state news network KCNA.

North Korea’s economy, which has been hit hard by international sanctions imposed because of its nuclear program, has been progressively deteriorating since the coronavirus pandemic was detected.

Over the weekend, Romania’s diplomatic delegation to the country, the last remaining EU mission in the country, left North Korean territory. As Kim explained, the party has set out to “efficiently” go ahead with the national economic plan, which envisages a phased implementation lasting five years.

In addition, he called on the authorities to “serve the people as if they were serving to God” and to consider at all times whether their work “infringes the interests of the people or causes some kind of problem.”

K. Tovar

Source: Detoque

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