© Reuters. The Venezuelan currency devalued 28% against the dollar in the first quarter
Caracas, Mar 31 (EFE).- The Venezuelan currency, the bolivar, devalued 28% during the first quarter of this year against the US dollar, whose price, in the official market, closed this Friday at 24.52 bolivars .
According to the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), the official price of the US currency – a reference to set almost all prices in the country – has increased by 39.7% so far this year, when it opened with a price of 17.55 bolivars.
After a first month and a half of accelerated rises, the price of the US currency stopped these increases at the end of February, a trend that continued for almost three weeks, until the end of March, when it returned to register continuous increases.
This stability was, in the opinion of experts, “cyclical”, since during March the Income Tax (ISLR) is declared and paid, forced to be done in bolivars, whose demand, therefore, increases.
In Venezuela, where almost everything -even gasoline- is paid in dollars, the increase in the price of this currency has a direct impact on the prices of goods and services, which are calculated -mostly- in the US currency, before the constant devaluation of the bolivar, which forced merchants to change prices on a daily basis.
In addition, the increase in the dollar mainly affects public workers and pensioners, whose monthly income is fixed in the local currency at a minimum of 130 bolivars, an amount that, at the official exchange rate, fell from $7.40 to $5. 30 dollars in this first quarter of the year.
