ADVERTISEMENT

This Is What It Takes to Get $1 Worth of Venezuelan Bolivars

This Is What It Takes to Get $1 Worth of Venezuelan Bolivars

(Bloomberg) -- I tried my fair share of ATMs in the past few weeks looking for cash. No luck. Most of the times I approach them only to see people walking out, putting their debit cards away and shaking their heads saying “no cash.”

One of those times, I tried to park in a lot near the ATM, and the attendant warned me the fee was 1,500 bolivars -- cash only. I spent some time explaining I was there to get cash in the first place and had no way of paying him if I wasn’t successful. He clearly heard this from others before and cut me short: “Cash only.” Begrudgingly, I parked a couple of blocks away.

That’s the thing about cash these days in Venezuela, it’s useless except for just a number of cases -- some parking lots, gasoline and public transportation -- in which it’s the only option you have. In some areas, like the airport, there are separate cash registers, which means having cash grants you the superpower of skipping lines made up of dozens of people using debit or credit cards.

This isn’t a new phenomenon in Venezuela, where cash has been scarce for about three years with few moments of respite, yet even with the influx of new bills after the government dropped five zeroes of the currency in August, we’re back to trying our luck at the ATMs.

I decided to visit a bank branch that’s tucked away in the second floor of a shopping mall in Eastern Caracas on Tuesday and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only was there cash being handed out, but the line was a manageable wait of about 10 people. After the usual chit-chat with the folks in line, where you mostly complain about prices (“Have you seen the price of soda these days?”), I walk up the bank teller. I hand her my ID and say: “I’m here for cash.”

She nods and hands me a wad of cash through the window, 6,000 bolivars consisting of 60 bills of 100-bolivar denomination, without even having told her how much I wanted. Cash is so worthless here -- that amounted to all of $1 -- they just assume you want as much as the government allows you.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Laya in Caracas at playa2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Larry Reibstein

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.