Venezuelan bolívar
| bolívar digital venezolano (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | VED (numeric: 926) |
| Subunit | 0.01 |
| Unit | |
| Unit | bolívar |
| Plural | bolívares |
| Symbol | Bs. [1] or Bs.D |
| Nickname | bolo(s), luca(s), real(es) |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄100 | céntimo |
| Banknotes | Bs. 5, Bs. 10, Bs. 20, Bs. 50, Bs. 100, Bs. 200, Bs. 500 |
| Coins | 25, 50 céntimos, Bs. 1 |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) | Venezuela |
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Banco Central de Venezuela |
| Website | www |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 114.10% (2022)[2][3][4] |
The bolívar [boˈliβaɾ] is the official currency of Venezuela. Named after the hero of South American independence Simón Bolívar, it was introduced by President Guzman Blanco via the monetary reform of 1879, before which the venezolano was circulating. Due to its decades-long reliance on silver and gold standards, and then on a peg to the United States dollar, it was long considered among the most stable currencies.
Since 1983, the currency has experienced a prolonged period of high inflation, losing value almost 500-fold against the US dollar in the process. The depreciation became manageable in the mid-2000s, but it still stayed in double digits.[5] It was then, on 1 January 2008, that the hard bolívar (bolívar fuerte in Spanish, sign: Bs.F, code: VEF) replaced the original bolívar (sign: Bs; code: VEB) at a rate of Bs.F 1 to Bs. 1,000[1][6] (the abbreviation Bs. is due to the first and the final letters of the plural form of the currency's name, bolívares).
The value of the hard bolívar, pegged to the US dollar, did not stay stable for long despite attempts to institute capital controls. Venezuela entered another period of abnormally high inflation in 2012, which the country has not exited as of April 2023. The central bank stuck to the pegged subsidised exchange rate until January 2018, which was overpriced so people began using parallel exchange rates despite a ban on publishing them. From 2016 to 2019 and again in 2020, the currency experienced hyperinflation for a total period of 38 months.[7]
The rampant inflation prompted another two redenominations. The first occurred in August 2018, when Bs.F 100,000 were exchanged for 1 sovereign bolívar (bolívar soberano in Spanish, sign: Bs.S, code: VES).[8] The second one, dubbed the "nueva expresión monetaria" or new monetary expression, occurred on 1 October 2021, when Bs.S 1,000,000 were exchanged for 1 digital bolívar[a] (bolívar digital in Spanish, sign: Bs.D, code: VED),[9][10] thus making one digital bolívar worth 100,000,000,000,000 (1014, or Bs. 100 trillion in short scale) of the pre-2008 bolívares.
Both Bs.S and Bs.D currencies are officially in circulation,[11] though the economy has undergone extensive currency substitution, so the majority of transactions happen in US dollars and euros, or, to a lesser extent, Colombian pesos.[7][12][13] Goods and services in Venezuela are primarily priced in U.S. dollars, but payments may be made in bolívares.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
BCVwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Venezuela - Inflation rate 2022". Statista. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "La inflación acumulada en 2020 en Venezuela fue de 2.959,8%, según el BCV". EFE (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "José Guerra: Seguimos en Hiperinflación. La inflación al cierre del 2020 en Venezuela fue de 3713%". Observatorio Venezolano de Finanzas (in Spanish). 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "Inflation rate, average consumer prices - Venezuela". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "Venezuela Introduces New Currency". Gata. 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^ a b c Silva, Vanessa; Long, Gideon (2021-10-01). "Venezuela lops another six zeros off its currency". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ Cohen, Benjamin J. (22 August 2018). "Venezuela's "desperate" currency devaluation won't save its economy from collapse". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ Zerpa, Fabiola; Yapur, Nicolle (2021-10-12). "Venezuela burns through cash to shore up new bolivar". Bloomberg News.
- ^ "List one: Currency, fund and precious metal codes" (PDF). SIX Financial Information AG. 1 October 2021.
- ^ "Billetes del cono monetario actual coexistirán con los billetes y monedas de la Nueva Expresión Monetaria". Banco Central de Venezuela. 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "Venezuela introduces new currency with 6 fewer zeros". Associated Press. 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "Au Vénézuela, miné par l'hyperinflation, la monnaie nationale perd six zéros d'un coup". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
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