Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Businessweek
Economics

Venezuela’s Latest Problem Is There Are Now Too Many Dollars

Businesses and consumers stash away semi-illicit greenbacks.

A young man peddles candy priced in dollars and bolívares at a traffic light in Valencia, Venezuela, on Nov. 1, 2019.

A young man peddles candy priced in dollars and bolívares at a traffic light in Valencia, Venezuela, on Nov. 1, 2019.

Photographer: Juan Carlos Hernandez/Zuma Press

U.S. dollars are everywhere in Venezuela, and suddenly that’s a problem.

The greenback is steadily gaining currency in this inflation-wracked country, where a single dollar buys about 60,000 bolívares on the black market. That’s creating challenges for local businesses, because Venezuelan banks are barred from offering foreign currency accounts.