Hyperinflation nation

[Music] [Music] for most Venezuelans 2016 wasn't a happy Christmas and if there's one overriding reason for that it's to do with money or more precisely cash in early December the value of Venezuela's local currency the Bolivar collapsed to such an extent that the maximum daily amount Bank machines were able to dispense was the equivalent of around three dollars a day one consequence of that was ever longer queues for near worthless notes how did most people cope well with patience and some sarcasm economy Venezuelan memorabilia la mejor del mundo nadie se pueden perago nuestra Pannonia sido Sicard se rule Osceola and then there was a twist days before Christmas president Maduro announced that the country's highest denomination note was being withdrawn to combat he said a mafia of currency traders so the same people that had spent those hours waiting to withdraw money for their Christmas needs were queuing again to put the money back looting and rioting broke out in many parts of the country such as here in the oil city of Maracaibo within 48 hours Maduro relented and extended the period that the 100 boulevard bill was allowed to be legal tender the move may have calmed matters temporarily but it also added to the sense of confusion to try to gauge what it's like living in a country where this is loose change where the price of almost everything doubles every 18 days and where it's not unusual to see a money counting machine in a fakery we spoke to three Venezuelans Alexei is a motor taxi driver Rene is a mechanic and Lenin a restaurant manager motor taxis are a popular way to get around Caracas even as the economy collapses traffic in the capital remains daunting the price of petrol was raised six thousand percent last year but it is still the cheapest in the world as well as having the world's highest inflation Caracas also incidentally as one of the world's highest murder rates this taxi passenger was keen to show us how he defends himself last a woody ah I got I got oh and we see see below Lisa VI que hace una yellow camera motor taxi rides are paid for in cash so people like driver Alexei Rodriguez no better than any that declining value of Venezuela's money when we spoke to him it was noon and he'd been working since 8:00 he'd earned five thousand six hundred and fifty bolivars less than three dollars on the black market realmente de de Ocho a sinkhole upon y de aqui say Malolo ago dr y no McCann sanctuary Omar Khayyam been a so Laura Dobbin prale mend hola mi Koto's ESO milky Nieto VoIP Oprah MIT ihnen take a so ya know Alan yeah cetera realmente Horita no se puede saber que vamos a see on teh sino que uno uno got al dia dia uno al dia dia bike Oprah polo un poco plop intend a NOL on me mo cha swelled Ohashi colita on suburban ayman nour cancel his real fear is something going wrong with his motorbike and the cost of spare parts venezuela produces very little apart from oil new spare parts are imported and priced in dollars pop out de trabajo menno you may pour que al-khasaka dinero para la comida right pitocin go to the doctor cuidado gentlemen he says what he spent reconstructing his entire house in 2012 he now spends on two tires one of the many ways he saves money is by bringing a packed lunch from home but Alexi sees himself as relatively lucky column n o Allah o lo menos a Minami des Socotra intimal Oh No NT le Akio veinte veinte cinco Wrentham in que con ESO por ESO Coco Mila Trebizond en en persona que no puede comer atrás al dia entiendo lo se le fils javis Amy Polk opens our console dominum oh no nope mo da vida president Maduro sometimes boasts how many times he and his predecessor agua chavez raised the minimum salary compared to previous Venezuelan government's but he doesn't mention inflation [Music] we cross town to see another side of this country's Bazaar economics this is the Katya district of Caracas a place where the informal cash economy is most openly visible at this small corner handy men congregate to trade spare parts and fix cars Rene Avila and foresees a small group of mechanics aqui I know enticing Camilo liore entrega cincuenta Y c NK l Villa de Mahal ko este dinero say mucho para Nina Rita comatose a comprar multi Karina pal y multi Claro SoCo so voice a poco de los Asuna puede hacer lo que lo que se hace gonna save against hace mucho para Ren a flashy oh no tiene totalmente a ruin a key vessel ah que bonito Asamoah tant efflux pass a MOS comprar same atonte cosas para gray Leon Oh Simone ah okay so no casa para nada salvia table Monell ammonia pegaso no saki no sirree he specializes in repairing Co windows a job that cost six thousand one of ours last month he charges fifteen thousand this month he adjusts his price not every month or every week but every day ha diario a diario puedo puede que sube la diario de su a lopressor da da fok realmente tenemos precio a comprar go yeah mañana me say no Sarah yeah yeah 800 say es oppa cicchitto aqui no in our feed oh no i única Sofia sino que todo su el diario Jose manal no men swallow lo que yo loca loca piccata Keenen Thole or ammonia depakote Emiquon antonio prácticamente Tolo diamo de Caliendo eka yendo hambre la calle la gente no la casa el dinero para comer sol de minimis lo que se llaman quiere su algo minimo alcanza para para una semana comeon in mucho menos Radia comida Y when y mientras ou're dosoo elsewhere so al de su 8 o su la gasolina Tommo atomic Roppongi [Music] the elk or Yuko chicken grill in Caracas has been around since the 1940s it prides itself on its secret marinade its team of chefs and it's usually bustling atmosphere but these days Venezuela's plunging economy means business especially at weekdays is exceptionally slow foreigners are more likely than locals to be able to eat here Denon Velazquez Donna ciento is the manager cccc Laurita Lopes o Maryam mucho Seminole meant a coho mentos no son de acuerdo go malenko's anaphase in Omak Sahara Mucha complicacy Odin SOT Mo's kata manejando lo Freddie Suho press apart insidee una hemp lo de que hacer un empuje table Emiquon yendo ya Horita before me siento cincuenta El tiro para no Crusaders low hockey ESO de ver la seine agua de la mano por que des oppressors Ratigan pero con el otro Bergeron no algo que tenemos un precio a hooter bong case of a hollow mess in Odessa Seminole meant a Kino panca cambiado called a diva meant a loss red running a business in a situation of extreme inflation is complicated on many practical levels one is that routine of changing prices printed menus were abandoned long ago the prices are instead put on a removable slip of paper you gotta save em demo che imprimis toda la carta de los menu tenemos Rita commend Ola cattle era Avocet na mono offer como zombie tenemos que track am beyond Oh yeha go que estamos todos Corita kilo Cana Solano Looch Ando Kavya yara Paloma tener horse in ago sudo me yo mental oppress Oh yo yo no vamos a la quiero hacer trace on a personal to podía convey a my Rollie are a boy a ser muchas cosas Orono general no question I con tu familia [Music] Jose holy women my ass a trace on president Raiko proving a very efficient persona Orono nowadays few customers can carry the walls of cash needed to pay for a meal prácticamente otro a pure jefe de grado poco efectivo or mondo man a hey la Stazione electron and effective or more powerful can forgive everyone so is the solution what other countries have done in similar situations which is abandoned their local currencies and just use a hard currency such as the US dollar nosotros equipos podrían mo y hemos estado tambien Davi Cepero Claro siempre el valor tambien defend a de como con el mercado y como no tenemos un mercado Co cinema table cuatro mercado luminal mercado negro aldol event o Segundo puede también por que a veces sewer yah vest a baja demasiado si el gobierno P Y cierren control y el precio de el dólar Foresta pasado como no trabajar a moto tranquilo pero no podemos mundo lo que flu varia mucho of say a problema real name as 2016 came to a close Venezuela seemed at the brink of what does appear to be hyperinflation namely price rises of more than 50 percent a month we were gonna monitor higher denomination bills did finally arrive with state television announcing that factors almost a victory in itself the presenters optimistic tone is a view shared by very few here as Venezuelans rapidly lose all confidence in their own money some of the signs of that are less obvious than others in the most desirable areas of Caracas a mini commercial building Booby's underway as companies and individuals with bolivars try to offload them by investing in something tangible Carlos Alberto Gonzalez Contreras is president of Venezuela's real estate chamber fundamental meant a porous a conflation pelagic Ament a las empresas lon trace a que tienen que riba pursue capital's no loaf way grap a pre our empress etre Nacional para en el pais no pueden ver Pettersson capitalist Tracy Aaron inverter in contention inverter in Wales antes que tener representa lo horrible perhaps this can be seen as a long term debt by some that's a better future does await this country which still after all does have the world's largest proven oil reserves but in the short term the prospects look grim history has shown the dangerous consequences nations face when their currencies are seen as worthless you

Channel: CGTN America

Views: 668,682

Rating: 4.6346807 out of 5

Keywords: americas now, fuel prices, hyperinflation, inflation, latin america, maduro, stephen gibbs, venezuela, venezuela crisis, venezuela economy

Id: NCw9wkowTQM

Length: 14min 29sec (869 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 10 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/OpportunityFrequent7]

Coming Soon To A City Near You!

I Silver Once will go a long way.

[u/LuciusArgentum]

Interesting documentary - thanks for the link!

The sad thing is how much worse things have gotten since then. With 1 million bolivar bills now being issued.

[u/skookum_doobler]

Does anyone have a friend that can sell me 100 of the new 1MM VZ bolivar bank notes?

I want them in an original band, and consecutive serial numbers.

[u/ShOwStOpp3r]

wow that was hard to watch,,then the Russians steal all their gold by offering a small hand to help the Maduro regime stay in power...

[u/bentaxleGB]

All apes shown in video. Bankers sat on their silver (and gold,) nowhere to be seen. Already left the country!

[u/ShortYourCentralBank]

This is very sad. I hope we can avoid this in North America, I fear we cannot.