Venezuela Receives More New Banknotes, but Scarcity Persists
Venezuela took delivery Tuesday of its third load of new, bigger denomination banknotes, its central bank said, but there was no sign of them in circulation yet despite official promises and mounting public anxiety.
"Seven hundred and ten crates of 500-bolivar notes have just arrived from Stockholm," the bank's vice president, Jose Khan, announced on state television.
They and other new denominations ranging up to 20,000 bolivars are being brought in by President Nicolas Maduro to replace 100-bolivar notes he wants to scrap, claiming they were being used by "mafias" along the border.
But citizens in the street complained they had not seen any of the new money, despite Maduro's promise that it would be available from December 15.
"Nothing at all. Still haven't seen them," a fast-food street vendor, Nicolas Flores, 40, told AFP in Caracas.
Maduro's announcement that the 100-bolivar notes would suddenly no longer be legal tender provoked long lines of people trying to change them, and looting and rioting in some areas, resulting in four deaths.
Following the unrest, the president extended until January 2 use of the 100-bolivar bills, each of which is worth 15 US cents at the highest official exchange rate.
The 100-bolivar bills represent more than three-quarters of the money being used in Venezuela, according to the website Prodavinci.
The central bank estimates that nearly 100 million 500-bolivar banknotes should be delivered this month. Experts believe that to be insufficient to meet demand.
"The banknotes that have arrived represent a little more than five percent of what they are withdrawing from circulation," said one economist, Asdrubal Oliveros.
Source: Agence France Presse
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