Venezuela to cut six zeros from prices amid hyperinflation

The bolivar will not be worth any more or any less, in order to facilitate its use, it is being taken to a simpler monetary scale, says the central bank.

Venezuela bolivar currency. File Photo.

Venezuela will cut six zeros from prices as of October 1, the central bank said on Thursday, August 05, 2021, the second time in three years the economically devastated South American nation has overhauled its decimated bolivar currency.

President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 slashed five zeroes from prices in an effort to simplify cumbersome transactions and ease accounting.

"The bolivar will not be worth any more or any less, inorder to facilitate its use, it is being taken to a simpler monetary scale," the central bank said in a statement.

The measure is significantly less relevant than the last monetary overhaul because Maduro in 2019 allowed for dollarization of the economy, which has led many transactions to be carried out in greenbacks.

Products are now widely priced in dollars even if they are ultimately paid for in bolivars.