Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, announced on Friday in national chain economic measures that make up what he has called as the country's economic recovery plan.

After denouncing the illegal currency price markers, the president acknowledged that the prices of goods in the country are dollarized, and commented that workers' salaries will be anchored to the petro government cryptocurrency, which as of August 20 will be a new accounting unit in Venezuela together with the sovereign bolivar.

The price of Petro and salary increase

The first announcement made by Maduro was the value, in sovereign bolivars, of the petro cryptocurrency, which will be 3,600 Bs. S, which is equivalent to 360,000,000 bolívares fuertes.

Then the president announced the rise in the minimum wage for workers, which stood at 1,800 BsS, which is equivalent to 180,000,000 bolivares fuertes. The increase represents 5.900% increase compared to the minimum wage set on June 20 of this year, which was 3,000,000 bolivares fuertes. The salary, according to Maduro, will be equivalent to 0.5 petros.



The pensions that the citizens of the third age receive also will be located in 1.800 BsS

"You dollarized the prices, I control wages," Maduro said, adding that he will assume the payments of small and medium-sized companies for 90 days.

Dicom auction (to obtain dollar currencies) three times a week

The frequency of Dicom auctions will increase to three per week during the next two months with convertible currencies in general, with the goal of reaching five daily auctions.

"We will play clear, hard and direct in the Venezuelan exchange system to have a single exchange rate and bury the criminal dollar," Maduro said.

Increase in VAT (value added tax) and the frequency of collection of the ISLR (income tax)

Maduro announced that the Value Added Tax (VAT) will increase four percentage points, so it will increase from 12% to 16%, maintaining the exception of essential goods and services. He also reported that the range to pay the Income Tax (ISLR) will go from biweekly to weekly.

Expert opinion

-Luis Vicente León, president of Datanálisis, said that the government has recognized the need to anchor the economy to a variable external to its control, such as the international price of oil, which he described as an appropriate decision, but "it does so camouflaged in a battered vehicles and without confidence as is the Petro ".

"It recognizes the need to legalize the parallel market and has used a value close to its current rate (six million BsF / $) to fix the initial price of Petro. It promises total fiscal discipline and zero deficit. Although it is an interesting proposal, its application is implausible, since it would represent spraying a fifth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) "

-For his part, the president of Econometrica, Henkel García, argued that the price level after the announcements of Maduro could be 6 to 10 times higher than the current one. "There are two variables that will have a huge increase next week: prices and monetary base," Garcia said.

-The president of Ecoanalítica, Asdrúbal Oliveros, wrote on Twitter that "what was announced (by Maduro) allows us to deduce that the deficit will not be significantly reduced despite the devaluation, new taxes and the eventual increase in gasoline. The goal of zero deficit is not credible and therefore, neither the elimination of monetary financing. "

In this regard, he said that in an "environment of aggressive devaluation" and monetary expansion via wages and bonds, a much "more aggressive" stage of hyperinflation is expected.