Bloomberg/Sebastian Boyd/2-5-2019
“Venezuelan money supply rose 31 percent in the week through Jan. 25, according to central bank data. That’s the fastest expansion since at least 1997 and could indicate that a panicked government has boosted spending in the face of protests, sanctions and the withdrawal of recognition by a big chunk of the international community.”
USAGOLD note: When a combination of currency debasement and inflation strikes an economy, the effects can be sudden and severe, as indicated in the two charts shown below. “Consumer prices in Venezuela,” reports TradingEconomics.com, “jumped 1,300,000 percent year-on-year in November of 2018, up from a 833,997 climb in October, according to estimates from Venezuela’s opposition-led congress. Inflation rate in Venezuela averaged 3268.55 percent from 1973 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 833997 percent in October of 2018 and a record low of 3.22 percent in February of 1973. The USDVEB traded at 248,520.9000 on Wednesday January 23. Historically, the Venezuelan Bolivar reached an all time high of 248520.90 in August of 2018 and a record low of 0.05 in January of 1989.” It does not take a great deal of imagination to contemplate what the effects have been on the price of gold in Bolivars.
Repost from 2-5-2019
