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Main article: Venezuela
Financial system
Central Bank
Main article: Venezuelan Central Bank
National debt
2023: State debt - 158% of GDP
2020:304% OF GDP
External debt
2019: Debt to Russia - $1.8 billion
withInflation
2023: Inflation in February 538% and gradual decline to 200% by the end of the year
Annual inflation in Venezuela in February 2023 rose to 538%, - Reuters.
2022: Inflation in November - 156%
Since 2015, inflation in Venezuela has been measured in triple digits, reaching 300,000% in 2019
2020
Decrease in inflation to 3000%
In mid-February 2021, the central bank of Venezuela reported that inflation in the country at the end of 2020 was almost 3000%. For comparison, in 2019 inflation amounted to 9585.5%. In 2020, the minimum price increase was recorded in March (13.3%), and the maximum - in December (77.5%).
The crisis in Venezuela is due to the devaluation of the national currency, the outflow of the working-age population and a shortage of essential goods. The oil-rich country is mired in the worst economic crisis in its modern history and has suffered a recession for the seventh consecutive year. Venezuelans are in acute shortages of food and medicine and even basic necessities such as soap and toilet paper. The economic crisis, which has been ongoing in the country for the past few years, has worsened politically, and in the spring of 2020, the United States imposed sanctions on more than 40 ships carrying oil from Venezuela. As a result, oil production in the country fell to a minimum.
Faced with the collapse of oil production and the consequences of US sanctions, the government of President Nicolas Maduro began to use the sale of monetary gold as a source of income. During 2020, reserves from central bank storage facilities in Caracas decreased by 19 tons. The seizure accelerated in the second half of the year, when 12 tons were exported. As a result, according to the national regulator, in 2020, the gold reserves of the Central Bank of Venezuela fell to 86 tons, a record low over the past 50 years. According to official data, in December 2019, the central bank had 105 tons, and over many previous decades the gold reserve of the Central Bank exceeded 300 tons. The authorities did not provide data on gold buyers.[1]
Price growth in Venezuela exceeded 1400%, inflation - 9585.5%
Price growth in Venezuela for the nine months of 2020 exceeded 1400%. Such data were released on October 8, 2020 by the finance committee of the National Assembly, which is controlled by political opponents of President Nicolas Maduro and his government.
Inflation in September was 30%, and since the beginning of the year - 1433.58%. In annual terms, price growth amounted to 3246%.
In February 2020, the Central Bank of Venezuela reported that inflation in 2019 in the country amounted to 9585.5%.
Venezuela has been experiencing a socio-economic crisis in recent years, accompanied by hyperinflation, devaluation of the national currency and a shortage of essential goods. According to the UN, about 4.5 million people left the country, almost 80% of them are in the states of the region.
Currency: bolivar
2021: Denomination from 1 million to 1 bolivar
In July 2021, the Venezuelan authorities are preparing another denomination of the national currency - the bolivar, which is rapidly depreciating in the fire of hyperinflation, measured by thousands of percent per year.
The Venezuelan Central Bank decided to "cut off" six zeros from the bolivar in order to simplify daily transactions in the country, the amounts of which ceased to fit on the scoreboard of calculators and cash registers.
As a result of the denomination - the third for Venezuela in the last 13 years - a million bolivars will turn into one bolivar. The dollar exchange rate in the country, thus, from 3.219 million bolivars will decrease to 3.2 bolivars.
Payment systems
2023: Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: Mir payment system launched throughout the country
The Mir payment system has been launched throughout Venezuela. This was announced in mid-November 2023 by the head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Ivan Gil Pinto, at a press conference in Moscow following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Read more here.
2022: Venezuela agrees to accept'Mir' cards
Cuba and Venezuela agreed to accept Mir cards, which became known in April 2022. The National Payment Card System (NSPK) said the system is technologically ready to operate in new countries. Read more here.
Incomes of the population
2022:90% of citizens with a budget of less than $5.5 per day
Communication
Russia agreed with Venezuela on the location of the GLONASS ground station there
In December 2022, Russia and Venezuela signed an agreement on the deployment of the GLONASS measuring station in the South American country. The construction of the satellite system facility will be carried out by a subsidiary of Roscosmos. Read more here.
Mining
Oil production