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"Three currency reconversions since 2008 have resulted in the elimination of 14 zeros from the local currency. Venezuela will thus become the Latin American cou

"Three currency reconversions since 2008 have resulted in the elimination of 14 zeros from the local currency. Venezuela will thus become the Latin American country to have eliminated the largest number of zeros from its currency, while the country has been going through a de facto dollarization for months. Analysts believe transactions in dollars make up for at least 70% of the country's operations." Three zeros in 2008, five in 2018, six more now. More on what this is like for ordinary Venezuelans at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/venezuela-new-currency_n_6156fc79e4b050254231f042 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/venezuela-new-currency_n_6156...: "Under the old system, a two-liter bottle of soda pop could cost more than 8 million bolivars."

Yenrabbit 5y ago
Not a fun situation to be in. We (Zimbabwe) took off something like 25 zeroes (3, 12 then 10). Dollarization was the only sensible option for anyone wanting to buy things with a currency that didn't devalue daily. Unfortunately a 2-currency system like this is ripe for exploitation, especially once the government starts trying to manipulate exchange rates. Thanks for that article.
- nverno 5y ago
  Did the government still bother to collect taxes, and did they accept US dollars instead?
- groundthrower 5y ago
  I cycled into Zimbabwe sometime 2008 and exchanged one usd to 500.000.000 Zim dollars. One week later I left the country and it had increased to 1.2 bn. The shops were almost empty - except for large quantities of Heinz ketchup.
  - number6 5y ago
    Were you able to repay debts with the inflated money?
- dzonga 5y ago
  as a Zimbabwean too, I wish the best of luck to Venezuelans. the hyper-inflation era, was rough. prices changing every 30 mins. people stopped counting money, it was about how thick it looked while boarding public transit. But yeah Venezuela need to get off the 2 currency system as it's prone to manipulation. I wonder, how it will work for them though, since they're under massive sanctions from the US

Yenrabbit 5y ago

Not a fun situation to be in. We (Zimbabwe) took off something like 25 zeroes (3, 12 then 10). Dollarization was the only sensible option for anyone wanting to buy things with a currency that didn't devalue daily. Unfortunately a 2-currency system like this is ripe for exploitation, especially once the government starts trying to manipulate exchange rates. Thanks for that article.

nverno 5y ago
Did the government still bother to collect taxes, and did they accept US dollars instead?
groundthrower 5y ago
I cycled into Zimbabwe sometime 2008 and exchanged one usd to 500.000.000 Zim dollars. One week later I left the country and it had increased to 1.2 bn. The shops were almost empty - except for large quantities of Heinz ketchup.
- number6 5y ago
  Were you able to repay debts with the inflated money?
dzonga 5y ago
as a Zimbabwean too, I wish the best of luck to Venezuelans. the hyper-inflation era, was rough. prices changing every 30 mins. people stopped counting money, it was about how thick it looked while boarding public transit. But yeah Venezuela need to get off the 2 currency system as it's prone to manipulation. I wonder, how it will work for them though, since they're under massive sanctions from the US