Venezuela “Strengthens” Bolivar

Venezuela has launched a new “Strong Bolivar” through the symbolic but economically futile deletion of three zeros off the end of its former currency. The typically heterodox measure is an apparent bid to curtail runaway inflation, but it may end up fuelling further rises if companies round up prices to cover costs of implementation. It may make transactions in Venezuela a little easier, but it does little to address the gulf between the official rate and the black market for Bolivares.