Wiped out! Troops take over Venezuelan TOILET PAPER factory to ensure country gets supplies because of chronic shortage

Nation is suffering from lack of essential goods due to high inflation

A chronic shortage of toilet paper has forced the Venezualan government to send troops to a factory to make sure stocks are fairly distributed.



The South American country has been beset by a lack of consumer goods due to inflation and tough trading conditions.

It has led President Nicolas Maduro to order a national price regulator to take over loo roll plants in the capital Caracas to verify production processes and distribution, before placing them under the watch of the National Guard.

Scramble: Shoppers in Venezuela have been stock-piling toilet paper because of low supplies and now the government has taken drastic action

Depleted: Supermarket shelves have lain empty empty of rolls, forcing President Nicolas Maduro to order troops to oversee production at factories in Caracas, the capital

Stocking up: The shortage in supplies of essential consumer goods has been caused by a huge rise in inflation

In a tweet on Thursday, Venezuela's Vice President, Jorge Arreaza, said authorities would 'not permit hoarding of essential commodities, or any faults in the production and distribution process'.

Tough stance: President Maduro has cut dollar supplies for importers since winning election in April

'The action taken at the producer of toilet paper, sanitary napkins and disposable diapers corresponds to the obligation of the state to guarantee the normal supply of primary necessities,' price regulator Sundecop said in a statement.

President Maduro has cut dollar supplies for importers since winning election in April, creating shortages of goods including toilet paper and butter and stoking one of the world’s highest inflation rates.



Critics say the nagging shortages of products ranging from bathroom tissue to milk are a sign his socialist government's rigid price and currency controls are failing.



His predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez, nationalized more than 1,000 companies or their assets before dying in March this year.

Annual inflation accelerated to 45.4 percent last month from 42.6 percent in July, while the scarcity index measuring the amount of goods out of stock on store shelves reached 20 percent, the central bank said.

The country devalued the official exchange rate to 6.3 bolivars per dollar from 4.3 bolivars in February.

On the black market, one dollar currently buys around 43.97 bolivars, according to dolartoday.com, which tracks the exchange rate on the border with Colombia.