Images show the amount of cash required to buy some basic supplies as Venezuela's hyperinflation spirals out of control.
The striking pictures show food stores like a 2.4kg chicken next to an enormous pile of 14,600,000 bolivars ($2.20) and a stack of bank notes worth 2,600,000 bolivars ($0.40) next to a single roll of toilet paper.
Venezuela has been thrown into chaos by a socialist government under Nicolas Maduro which has introduced a controversial tranche of fiscal policies.
Unbridled hyperinflation has seen the bolivar devalued to a point where workers need wheelbarrows to carry enough cash for a weekly shop.
Maduro unveiled a major economic reform plan this weekend aimed at halting the hyperinflation crisis and will start issuing new banknotes after slashing five zeroes off the crippled bolivar.
The measures - revealed in a speech to the nation late Friday - include a massive minimum wage hike, the fifth so far this year.
Jittery Venezuelans on Friday rushed to shops and formed long lines in preparation for the monetary overhaul.
Shoppers and economists are now concerned Maduro's minimum wage increase could close thousands of stores across the country as companies will no longer be able to pay their workers.
Although the wage increase will make it possible for Venezuelans to buy basic supplies, there may not be anywhere open to sell them.
Economists warned that some companies would go under, unable to shoulder the massive increase in monthly minimum wage from 3 million bolivars to 180 million bolivars, or roughly $0.5 to $30. That will likely increase unemployment and further fuel mass emigration that has overwhelmed neighboring South American countries.
As it stands, the monthly minimum wage - devastated by inflation and the aggressive devaluation of the bolivar - is still not enough to buy a kilo of meat.
To soften the blow, Maduro vowed that the government would cover three months of the wage increase for small and medium-sized companies.
But he did not provide details and it remains unclear how his cash-starved government would afford such a hefty payout or whether the chaotic administration has the logistical capacity to pay wages on time.
Inflation hit 82,700 percent in July as the country's socialist economic model continues to unravel, meaning purchases of basic items such as a bar of soap or a kilo of tomatoes require piles of cash that is often difficult to obtain.
The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation will hit a staggering one million percent this year in Venezuela - now in a fourth year of recession, hamstrung by shortages of basic goods, and crippled by paralyzed public services.
Maduro blames the country's financial woes on opposition 'plots' and American sanctions - but admits that the government will 'learn as we go along' when it comes to the currency redenomination.
The striking pictures show food stores like a 2.4kg chicken next to an enormous pile of 14,600,000 bolivars ($2.20) and a stack of bank notes worth 2,600,000 bolivars ($0.40) next to a single roll of toilet paper.
Venezuela has been thrown into chaos by a socialist government under Nicolas Maduro which has introduced a controversial tranche of fiscal policies.
Unbridled hyperinflation has seen the bolivar devalued to a point where workers need wheelbarrows to carry enough cash for a weekly shop.
Maduro unveiled a major economic reform plan this weekend aimed at halting the hyperinflation crisis and will start issuing new banknotes after slashing five zeroes off the crippled bolivar.
The measures - revealed in a speech to the nation late Friday - include a massive minimum wage hike, the fifth so far this year.
Jittery Venezuelans on Friday rushed to shops and formed long lines in preparation for the monetary overhaul.
Shoppers and economists are now concerned Maduro's minimum wage increase could close thousands of stores across the country as companies will no longer be able to pay their workers.
Although the wage increase will make it possible for Venezuelans to buy basic supplies, there may not be anywhere open to sell them.
Economists warned that some companies would go under, unable to shoulder the massive increase in monthly minimum wage from 3 million bolivars to 180 million bolivars, or roughly $0.5 to $30. That will likely increase unemployment and further fuel mass emigration that has overwhelmed neighboring South American countries.
As it stands, the monthly minimum wage - devastated by inflation and the aggressive devaluation of the bolivar - is still not enough to buy a kilo of meat.
To soften the blow, Maduro vowed that the government would cover three months of the wage increase for small and medium-sized companies.
But he did not provide details and it remains unclear how his cash-starved government would afford such a hefty payout or whether the chaotic administration has the logistical capacity to pay wages on time.
Inflation hit 82,700 percent in July as the country's socialist economic model continues to unravel, meaning purchases of basic items such as a bar of soap or a kilo of tomatoes require piles of cash that is often difficult to obtain.
The International Monetary Fund predicts inflation will hit a staggering one million percent this year in Venezuela - now in a fourth year of recession, hamstrung by shortages of basic goods, and crippled by paralyzed public services.
Maduro blames the country's financial woes on opposition 'plots' and American sanctions - but admits that the government will 'learn as we go along' when it comes to the currency redenomination.
Music: "Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: Reuters, Daily Mail
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