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The Venezuelan currency, the bolivar, lost 20.24% of its value against the US dollar last week, causing the price of products to skyrocket and rekindling the concerns of traders and customers, particularly the Portuguese and descendants of Portuguese.
On Monday, Venezuelans needed 535,719 bolívares (bs) and today they need 646.00 bs, in a country that has suffered from hyperinflation since 2018. Prices are shown in US dollars and are paid at the exchange rate at the time of purchase.
“We are very concerned, everything is ‘dollarized’ [afixado em dólares] and prices in bolivars rise daily, in some cases even in dollars. The one who sells the most is the one who loses the most, because when he replenishes the ‘stock’ of products, what he charges is no longer able to ask for the same and he loses money or has to ask for less, “explained a Portuguese-Venezuelan merchant to Agência Lusa.
Arturo Agrela is one of the owners of a small pastry shop in a rented premises, the value of which varies daily due to local fluctuations in currency prices.
“This week’s increase means I will pay more than 20% more rent [em bolívares] And so it is with everything, including basic services, which have lost quality, they don’t always work, but they go up in price ”, he emphasized.
On the other hand, Alejandro Martins, in order to survive the country’s crisis, “which has been aggravated by the coronavirus,” changed the registration of his small cafe, in order to also be able to sell vegetables and cheeses, sugar and even some detergents.
“It is what people are buying. People have no money and try to keep what they have in foreign currency. With limited money, buying food is the priority and whoever came every day to drink coffee now spends more than a week without coming, and when they ask for vegetables they want it delivered at home ”, he explained.
“We don’t know how long this can take,” he said, explaining that “people are buying less food” for the home.
Alejandro Martins added: “In this country every day there is a problem to be solved, if it is not the light (electricity) that has gone out, it is a device that has broken down due to fluctuations in energy, water, electricity. lack of gasoline. “
“Also insecurity, because during the nights they rob the establishments looking for food and things to sell,” he said.
On the other hand, the domestic worker María Correia, 72, also worries about the situation and also comes in Spanish: “This is increasingly ‘uphill’ [ladeira acima ou difícil de suportar]”.
“We are in hyperinflation and now they are dollars for everything, but even in dollars things go up in price. In addition, for those who managed to save a few euros, it is not worth having them on the banknotes, because merchants change 1 for 1 [um euro por um dólar]They do not care that a euro has 17% more value than the dollar, “he explained.
According to this Portuguese woman, with local pensions, she can only “buy a bar, a kilo of sugar and perhaps one more thing, because even some vegetables cost more per kilo than a pension”.
“I have a son who helps me, but the money I had saved [em euros] it is less and less. It is sad to work all your life and see how things have degraded. Grandmothers only buy what we need, but in the supermarket we have to look at the prices before buying to decide whether to bring them or not, “he said.
Some Portuguese say that they simply do not leave Venezuela because they have houses and properties in the country. Still, they complained that airports are closed, that travel prices are too high.
As they do not have money to “start over” in Portugal even if they manage to sell some things, they would have to have the help of relatives, which, they say, “is not easy.”
According to local economists, Venezuela has been in hyperinflation since 2018.
According to the Financial Observatory of Venezuela, the country accumulated 1,798% inflation between January and October of this year.
In January 2020, a US dollar cost 75,000 bolivars.
Many local establishments set the price of the dollar according to the black market, which this Saturday was 690,000 Bs, almost 7% higher than the official value.
On the other hand, due to the local shortage of small denomination bills, of 1 and 5 dollars, customers are forced to buy more products until they reach 20, 50 or 100 dollars.
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