Venezuela Devalues Bolivar More Than 80% in Currency Auction
- Dicom foreign-exchange platform reopened amid hyperinflation
- Official rate is still far overvalued relative to black market
Bolivar banknotes sit in a cash register in Venezuela.
Photographer: Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg
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Venezuela’s bolivar plunged more than 80 percent as the central bank restarted currency auctions for the first time since August as part of its efforts to ease a severe shortage of dollars and clamp down on hyperinflation.
One dollar bought about 25,000 bolivars at the auction, compared with 3,345 bolivars at the last so-called Dicom sale about six months ago. The rate announced Monday is still much stronger than in the black market, where individuals and businesses without access to the official markets pay about 225,000 bolivars per dollar, according to dolartoday.com.