Business Day

Maduro economic moves ‘alarming’

• Venezuelan president’s measures force shopkeeper­s to consider business

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After Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s 60-fold increase to the minimum wage, store owners are wrestling with an anguishing decision: close up shop or hit customers with steep price hikes at the risk of sinking the business.

After Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s 60-fold increase to the minimum wage, store owners on Saturday wrestled with an anguishing decision: close up shop or hit customers with steep price hikes at the risk of sinking the business.

In a set of sweeping announceme­nts that shocked many Venezuelan­s, the socialist Maduro on Friday ordered a 96% currency devaluatio­n, pegged the bolivar currency to the government’s petro cryptocurr­ency and boosted taxes as part of a plan aimed at pulling the Opec member out of its economic tailspin.

The measures especially spooked shopkeeper­s already struggling to stay afloat due to hyperinfla­tion, government-set prices for goods ranging from flour to diapers, and strict currency controls that crimp imports. Many stores were closed on Saturday as owners hunkered down to consider the implicatio­ns. Economists warned that some companies would go under, unable to shoulder the massive increase in monthly minimum wage from 3-million bolivars to 180million bolivars, or roughly 50c to $30. That will likely increase unemployme­nt and further fuel mass emigration that has overwhelme­d neighbouri­ng South American countries.

Jhonny Herrera, owner of a hardware store on the windswept Paraguana Peninsula in northern Venezuela, said he would have to fire two employees because he could not afford to pay them, leaving him with just one worker.

When Venezuela was enjoying a decade-long oil bonanza, he had 10 employees.

“I have thought about closing for good and leaving, all the more so now with these increases. I have held back due to my 14-year-old son, who I would leave here because I need to emigrate first,” said Herrera, surrounded by stores that have been shuttered after their owners fled the country.

To soften the blow, Maduro vowed that the government would cover three months of the wage increase for small and medium-sized companies. But he did not provide details and it remains unclear how his cashstarve­d government would afford such a hefty payout or whether the chaotic administra­tion has the logistical capacity to pay wages on time.

The informatio­n ministry did not respond to a request for an explanatio­n of the plan. Venezuela’s opposition called for protests and a national strike on Tuesday, though recent attempts by the fractured coalition to rally Venezuelan­s have had little effect. Venezuela’s main business chamber, Fedecamara­s, said it did not have any estimates on the effects of the measure yet, though local economists predicted a heavy toll.

“A minimum wage of 180million bolivars in this current situation implies the closure of thousands of companies and the unemployme­nt of many people,” said economist Luis Oliveros.

Bakery owner Luis Carballo, a 59-year-old who has worked in the bread sector for 45 years, said he would try to stay afloat, but was full of dread.

“I have to increase prices … And if I don’t sell, production drops, and I have to suspend some of my employees. I feel really badly,” Carballo said.

Outside another bakery in San Cristobal, security guard Victor Martinez fretted with a friend about the measures.

“This is worsening the situation. I’m scared of losing my job,” Martinez said.

MADURO VOWED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD COVER THREE MONTHS OF THE WAGE INCREASE

 ?? /AFP ?? Our new money: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro presents fresh currency in the framework of new economic measures
/AFP Our new money: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro presents fresh currency in the framework of new economic measures

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