Move to cut Venezuela’s fuel smuggling surge

President Nicolas Maduro said some of the world’s cheapest petrol that Venezuelan drivers enjoy will soon be sold at world market prices to combat rampant smuggling.

Mr Maduro said he wants to stop Venezuela’s subsidised fuel from crossing illegally into Colombia and other neighbouring countries. He said the smuggling costs Venezuela billions. It is part of Mr Maduro’s plan to overhaul an imploding economy, in which inflation is expected to top 1 million per cent this year.

Filling up a tank of petrol in socialist Venezuela today costs less than one US cent.

Mr Maduro says Venezuelans showing their government-issued identification card at the pump will still be able to buy subsidised petrol. He gave few other details of the planned changes. Many Venezuelans who oppose Mr Maduro’s government refuse the identification card.

The price of a litre of petrol in Venezuela stands at 1 bolivar. On the black market, Venezuelans pay more than four million bolivares for one US dollar.

That means for the equivalent of one dollar, Venezuelans can fill the tank of a medium-sized car about 720 times.

Venezuela loses $18bn to fuel smuggling annually, according to government figures. Mr Maduro said all Venezuelans who hold the “Fatherland ID” – a government-issued identity card introduced by his administration in last year – will continue to receive “direct subsidies” for “about two years”