The inhabitants of the José Antonio Páez border municipality in Apure complain about the indiscriminate rise in the prices of products after the devaluation of the Colombian peso against the dollar. They also warn that the exchange houses in the area encourage inflation by setting the price of currency in an arbitrary manner.
By La Patilla – María Eugenia Díaz
Jul 19, 2022
Yuri Rodríguez, a resident of Guasdualito, a José Antonio Páez Municipality in Apure State, reports that the devaluation of the Colombian peso against the dollar over the past two weeks has generated an indiscriminate increase in the cost of products in this locality, which borders Colombia, and where the economy depends on the Colombian peso.
“Lately, the dollar rose to 4,300 Colombian pesos, everything shot up, everything rose horribly. But then the dollar fell to 3,900 pesos. However, the prices of the products did not go down, they stayed way up and we cannot do anything. Before, an item (that used to) cost 5,000 pesos, now costs between 7,000 and 8,000 Colombian pesos,” said the leader of the Vente Venezuela party in the area with concern.
Ms. Rodríguez revealed that two weeks ago, nervous purchases of dollars at 4,400 pesos were reported in Guasdualito, in the face of the imminent devaluation of the Colombian legal currency. She reported that currently, exchange houses buy a dollar for 4,000 pesos.
Furthermore, the neighbor of Guasdualito told La Patilla that previously she could buy more products with 50,000 pesos. She now, on the contrary, complains by alleging that with the same amount of money, she can only buy two kilos of meat, because each kilo is priced at 22,000 pesos, equivalent to 45 bolívares.
In Guasdualito, buyers complain about the existence of clandestine exchange houses which, in their opinion, set the price of currency in an arbitrary manner, negatively affecting the economic dynamics of the area.
“The changes from bolivars to pesos are more dramatic. These houses receive payments by debit card or transfer, and the price of the currency changes according to the payment method. By transfer, they sell a peso for 7 bolívares, while at the point of sale they pay 6.5 bolívares per peso. They set the exchange rates, they take advantage of the people’s needs,” Rodríguez added.
Another neighbor consulted by La Patilla revealed with concern that Guasdualito businesses exchange bolivars for pesos according to the exchange rate of the day, regardless of the buyers’ needs. In addition, despite this submission, the store managers do not issue invoices to support the transaction.
“They please the Treasury Ministry, because when the “Sundde” (Consumer protection agency) requests support to carry out the inspections and they refuse to support them in their work. Today, for 100 Bs they give you 65,000 pesos, because the peso/bolívar rate is 6.50 Bs. Tomorrow it can go down or up, but when the paydays approach, the exchange houses pay the bolivar at low prices,” stated an affected person who requested anonymity.
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