Venezuela Won’t Exchange All Bank Notes in Currency Swap
- Central bank to only swap ‘rational’ amount of cash: Merentes
- Venezuelans thronging banks to deposit their 100-bolivar notes
A worker counts 100-bolivar notes at vendor stand in Caracas on Dec. 12.
Photographer: Carlos Becerra/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Venezuelan central bank chief Nelson Merentes said exorbitant quantities of 100-bolivar notes would not be accepted for deposit as part of an eventual exchange into higher-denominated bills as Venezuelans throng financial institutions to protect their cash savings.
Venezuelans are racing the clock after President Nicolas Maduro’s surprise announcement Sunday that the country’s largest bill -- worth just a few U.S. cents on the black market -- would be pulled from circulation within 72 hours as part of a new emergency economic decree to fight “currency attacks.”