Venezuela to Cut Six Zeroes Off Bolivar to Simplify Transactions

• Venezuela is preparing to once again lop off zeroes from the national currency in an attempt to simplify daily transactions which sometimes barely fit on a calculator or require swiping cards multiple times to complete a purchase. 
• The central bank is planning to slash six zeroes from the bolivar as early as August after previous attempts to issue larger-denomination bills failed to resolve problems created by endemic inflation, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter who aren’t authorized to speak publicly about the plans. That means one dollar would fetch 3.2 bolivars instead of 3,219,000 at present. 
• Venezuela last carried out a “redenomination” of the bolivar in 2018 and in March began printing a 1 million-bolivar note, the largest in the country’s history. But that bill is now worth just $0.32 and isn’t enough to buy a cup of coffee. Since 2008, the government -- first under the late Hugo Chavez, and then under current President Nicolas Maduro -- has removed 8 zeroes from the currency, as hyperinflation decimated people’s savings. 
• While the country has now informally adopted the U.S. dollar for many every day transactions, most Venezuelans only earn bolivars and the local currency is needed for things like bus fare, parking and tips. 
• The push for simplifying bolivar transactions has come largely from companies who have raised the issue with the government. Things like paying taxes and dealing with other accounting calculations have become absurdly complex.

(Source: Bloomberg)