Venezuela: More than 80% of Commercial Transactions in 2020 Made in National Currency (Bolivars)
77.3% of the country’s commercial transactions in 2020 were made in bolivars by electronic payment methods; this shows the weight that the national currency still has, said the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, on Friday.
“Reviewing the relative use of the national currency and the dollar and the means of payment used for the expenses made by households, 77.3% of the country’s commercial transactions in 2020 were made in bolivars by digital payment methods,” he said.
Between the months of November and December 2020, commercial activity increased fivefold, both in bolivars and dollars, compared to 2019, informed the Head of State during an interview with journalist Ignacio Ramonet, according to a note from the Venezuelan News Agency (AVN).
“This year we are going towards a deeper expansion of digital economy,” stated the President. “I have set the goal of 100% digital economy, that everyone has access to payment methods by debit and credit cards.”
He explained that in 2020 only 18.6% of the commercial activity was done in cash in convertible currencies, with the dollar being the predominant currency.
Maduro opined that this is the result of an economy of resistance that has emerged, in which the bolivar and the dollar are handled. The latter has functioned as an “escape valve for income and commerce,” he reiterated.
Likewise, he pointed out that in June and July last year, payments in foreign currency rose to more than 20% in shopping centers and informal commerce, AVN reported.
Only 3.4% of transactions were made in physical bolivars (cash) on an annual average, as a consequence of the “war against physical currency.”
The president reminded that Venezuela is subjected to persecution against all sources of financing, and that is why the country must move its resources in an atypical way parallel to the world of the dollar, reported AVN.
The bolivar, production and the CLAP
On other aspects of the economy, attacked by the imperial blockade, the Head of State affirmed that one cannot speak of a dollarization of the entire Venezuelan economy.
“It cannot be said that Venezuela is, like Ecuador for example, a dollarized economy. It does not depend on the US Department of Treasury like Panama. No,” he stressed.
The dignitary commented that for Venezuela the handling of the currency is a great advantage. “We are even going to create some payment formats in digital currency, with a savings account in foreign currency in the Venezuelan Bank. Savings accounts and checking accounts in foreign currency are being authorized, and people will be able to pay at the price of the currency in bolivars in the general market in the country,” he explained.
RELATED CONTENT: Venezuela Designs Prototype of Vehicle for Rural Areas
During the interview, President Maduro stressed that Venezuela has its own currency, the bolivar, which will be defended in 2021 by improving incomes.
“We have to improve the quality of the Venezuelan currency. We have to continue reducing inflation, which is still very high, although we have been gradually controlling it,” he added, despite the difficulties caused by the fall in the nation’s income due to financial persecution, said a VTV press release.
The president indicated how Venezuela has been increasing food production, ending that situation of induced shortage of products.
He announced that he has approved the CLAP 2021 Plan, the monthly market for more than 7 million homes with national production. “So, from 2021 on, with the Anti-Blockade Law, we are going to recover national income, recover macroeconomic balance, contain inflation even more and resume real economic growth, of the real economy.”
The president reiterated that the year 2021 marks the start of a new progressive, sustained, true growth of the real and productive economy. “Not the economy of papers, of speculation, of lies, of farce, no. It is the growth of the economy that produces grains, milk, meat, corn, arepas, clothing, oil, gold, etc. The real economy.”
International investors
Regarding foreign investment in Venezuela, President Maduro also had good news: “By the commitment of the Republic, we paid the debt holders more than 76 billion dollars during the 2014-17 period. And with Commander Chávez, in the 2010-2013 period, up to 56 billion dollars were paid. We paid 132 billion dollars from 2010 to 2017 until Trump arrived. Those were the profits of financial investors, “said the dignitary.
Despite the fact that debt holders lost everything when Trump froze the accounts, when US sanctions attacked Venezuela’s oil revenues, investors can count on the Bolivarian Republic, reiterated President Maduro.
He also ratified all the debt holders and US investors of the disposition that the national government has to negotiate and renegotiate and to fulfill all the commitments from now on. “We have the best relationships. They know that we are good payers, that we are people of our word, trustworthy for financial and economic activity, they know it, and they know that Trump did great damage to their investments, they know it perfectly,” VTV reported about the president’s words.
Featured image: Photo courtesy of Prensa Presidencial.
Translation: OT/JRE/SC
