The devaluation of the currency has been one of the numerous issues that Venezuela has encountered since the start of the economic crisis, which started in 2013 with the death of Hugo Chavez and the decline in oil prices.
Due to this circumstance, the bolivar is now one of the global currencies that is being most negatively impacted by the hyperinflation that the South American nation is experiencing.
Government attempts have been undertaken, but they do not appear to be sufficient. So much so that Nicolás Maduro used the Labor Day protests to warn the people that the minimum salary would remain at $5.25, or 130 bolivars, which has been the standard since March 2022.
The "cestaticket" bonds, on the other hand, will increase from 15 to 40 dollars, and a new "war bond" will be 20 dollars, he said. The minimum wage will increase by 60 dollars as a result of this.
Employees in the public sector, like teachers and medical professionals, will profit from these new bonds.
However, the Center for Documentation and Social Analysis (Cendas) has confirmed that because the family basket's prices are so high, these vouchers will not be enough to pay for these costs.
According to this center, to buy essential food products for a group of five people, 510 dollars are needed.
State workers make no effort to hide their disapproval by staging sit-ins and protests, despite Maduro's announcement to raise the price of the bonds. According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, they have grown by 47% over the past quarter.
The inability to guarantee adequate pay for the populace has been attributed to the Executive of the United States and its economic sanctions. Even if their action does not guarantee that they will get what they want, the employees do not grow weary of protesting, Latin American Post reported.
Although they make more money, employees in the private sector are also familiar with these demands for fair wages and working conditions. The forced conformism to government policy that is perceived in the streets has been shattered because of these protests.
There are two million people working in the public sector alone, and they describe their pay as being "destitute wages." In the same way, there are about three million pensioners in this industry.
A Nation with Official Poverty?
Venezuela, which has the lowest minimum wage in all of Latin America, continues to set adverse economic records.
Venezuela is in an extremely difficult condition if poverty in the Bolivarian nation is determined based on the UN and World Bank's concept that a person is considered poor if they make 2.15 dollars or less per day.
When 65.25 dollars are divided by 30 days, the result is 2.17 dollars a day, indicating that the minimum wage is insufficient to prevent someone from being classified as being in poverty.
Even though the government has only recently started using the North American currency, dollarization in Venezuela is currently a reality.
Due to the complete dollarization situation, unstable pay, and inflationary volatility, Venezuela's general population no longer receives adequate wages; instead, only those in high command and influential positions do.
What Do 60 Dollars a Month in Venezuela Mean?
The Venezuelan Finance Observatory estimates that 60 dollars will buy a medium chicken, two corn oils, 30 eggs, two kilos of cornmeal, two kilos of white cheese, three kilos of beef, and two kilos of white cheese.
Foods like ground coffee cost $11.60 per kilo, milk costs $11.42 for two cartons, and pasta costs $2.29 per kilo.
Cleaning supplies, transportation, medications, and clothing cannot even be included in the accounts of Venezuelan families because only what is linked to food is being included here.
The Spectrum of Inflation from Other Latitudes
Comparisons are disliked by governments, especially when they are global. The usefulness of this action is in actually understanding how well or how poorly the national economy is doing.
The cost of the Big Mac is one of the most popular and useful metrics. Its science is in determining if a currency is overvalued or undervalued in the market using the price of this hamburger. As a result, it is feasible to evaluate the purchasing power of various countries.
A Big Mac costs $1.76 in Venezuela, where the minimum pay is $60; $4.16 in Colombia, where the minimum wage is $242; $4.44 in Brazil, the largest economy, where the minimum wage is 264; and $4.19 in Mexico, where the minimum income is $321.
In Uruguay, where the minimum wage is 527 dollars, a Big Mac costs 6.85 dollars, the costliest in all of Latin America.
This straightforward method of determining each country's inflation rate and the true worth of its currency reveals that only a small number of nations—and even fewer in Latin America—are prosperous economically.
Venezuela is a constant example that you have to know how to take advantage of moments of prosperity to be able to face precarious situations.
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