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Venezuela to Remove 100-Bolivar Note

Venezuela to Remove 100-Bolivar Note
Venezuela to Remove 100-Bolivar Note

The 100-bolivar bank note will be removed from circulation in Venezuela on Wednesday. The Venezuelan government promised six much larger notes in coming days.

Stuck in an economic crisis and facing rampant inflation, the Venezuelan government announced Sunday it would pull its largest bill from circulation on Wednesday, DW reported.

The 100-bolivar note, which is worth approximately two cents, will be replaced by much larger bank notes. Venezuelans will have 10 days after the 100-bolivar bill is removed from circulation to exchange the notes at the central bank. In the wake of the 100-bolivar note’s demise, six bank notes worth between 500 and 20,000 bolivars will be made available, and three new coins. One US dollar can buy up to 4,400 bolivars on the black market.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the move was necessary as international mafias kept the notes in Colombian and Brazilian cities. Maduro demanded “all land, air and sea possibilities closed immediately so that they do not return those notes that were taken,” on his television show “Contact with Maduro.”

Critics were quick to denounce the decision, saying Maduro should fight against the use of contraband bills on the Colombia-Venezuela border, and that there was no realistic way for Venezuelans to exchange 100-bolivar bills currently in circulation within the allotted time. Data from the central bank showed there were more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation in November, which is about 48% of all bills and coins in use.

“When ineptitude governs! Who would possibly think of doing something like this in December amid all our problems?” said two-time opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Twitter.

 

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