Electronic payment terminal in a grocery store in Venezuela. Photo: EFE.
In November, transactions in the Venezuelan national currency, bolívar, exceeded payments in foreign currency, according to a study conducted by the opposition-leaning economic firm Econalítica.
In an interview, economist Asdrúbal Oliveros explained that in the second week of November, transactions in bolívars represented 75.3% of the total, while payments in US dollar was at 16.1%.
“This is the first time since we conducted this study that the level of transactions in foreign currency has been lower. Today, the bulk of payments are made in bolivars,” Oliveros said.
These findings align with the Venezuelan government’s current economic policy.
In this regard, Oliveros, who is close to opposition sectors, stated that from 2019 to the present there has been a significant drop of more than 40 percentage points in payments in foreign currency.
After bolivar and US dollar, the Colombian pesos was the third most used foreign currency in Venezuela. This currency is commonly used in the border regions of Venezuela with Colombia, such as Zulia, Táchira and Mérida states.
The Colombian peso was followed by transactions in euro, which represented 3.1% of the total. Finally, cryptocurrencies and others accounted for 1.8% of all the transactions considered in the study.
According to Econalítica, in the second week of November, “more than 45,421 transactions were carried out, in 530 establishments of various sizes, in various locations and of diverse nature: supermarkets, pharmacies, clothing stores, etc.” Ecoanalitica did not provide technical details of the statistical and technical nature of its study.
This study was carried out in 10 cities in the country, including Caracas, Valencia, Maracaibo, Maracay, and Barquisimeto. According to Oliveros, 70% of the country’s economic activity is concentrated in these cities.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
