McDonald’s out of fries in Venezuela as tight currency controls worsen food shortages January 7, 2015 Things have got so bad in Venezuela that the Golden Arches have to serve up fried yuca instead of French fries. McDonald's 100 franchises in the oil-dependent state have totally run out of potatoes, forcing them to substitute with regional staples like yuca and maize arepas. Latin America's biggest McDonald's franchise holder Arcos Dorados is [...]
Fitch cuts Venezuela’s credit rating to ‘CCC’ on oil price plunge December 18, 2014 Credit rating agency Fitch has slashed Venezuela's credit to 'CCC' on plunging global oil prices, which means "default is a real possibility." It said the country's economy has little room to manoeuvre in the face of crumbling global oil prices, which has eaten away at its main source of income. Venezuela's oil dependent economy requires an [...]
Oil price drop: How does it affect Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, the US, the UK and the Eurozone? December 5, 2014 The price of Brent crude oil has dropped by around 40 per cent since June, at one point falling to its lowest level in more than four years. It's now stablising at around $70 a barrel, but speculators think it could fall further – perhaps down to $65, maybe even as far as $60 [...]
Venezuela default almost inevitable, say Reinhart and Rogoff October 14, 2014 Venezuela will almost certainly default on its foreign debt, according to Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. They add that the beleaguered Latin American economy has already defaulted on "every conceivable kind of domestic debt". The world-renowned economists wrote that the Venezuelan economy had been so badly mismanaged by the socialist government that GDP [...]
Venezuela ordered to pay Exxon Mobil $1.6bn over nationalisation October 10, 2014 Venezuela has been instructed to pay US oil company Exxon Mobil $1.6bn in compensation for the seizure of its assets. Back in 2007, Venezuela's socialist government nationalised Exxon's Cerro Negro Project. Exxon Mobil said in a statement: The decision confirms that the Venezuelan government failed to provide fair compensation for expropriated assets. The ruling, which [...]
Venezuela plans to fingerprint shoppers to stop food shortages August 22, 2014 The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has announced plans for a major mandatory fingerprinting system to combat the increasingly dire food shortages and rampant smuggling afflicting the Latin American state. He said the fingerprinting system would be similar to the one the country uses for voting and was intended to stop Venezuelans buying too much [...]
Why is Venezuela’s capital more expensive than London? March 4, 2014 London doesn’t make the top 10 in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest assessment of the world’s most expensive cities (which may be a surprise to anyone who’s trying to buy a house): Singapore, Paris and Oslo and are some of the predictable pricey towns that do. But readers might be surprised to [...]
How socialism has destroyed Venezuela February 25, 2014 MILTON Friedman once said that, if you put the government in charge of the Sahara desert, there’ll eventually be a shortage of sand. No wonder that, after 14 years of socialist government, Venezuela – the country with the world’s largest oil reserves – is currently importing gasoline. This fact highlights Venezuela’s painful descent into chaos, [...]
6 people have died in Venezuela’s protests. Here’s what you need to know February 21, 2014 Panic and fear are gripping the people of Venezuela. Although anti-government protests have pretty much become a fixture in the South American country since President Nicolas Maduro came to power, they’ve picked up apace over the last few weeks. In the past eight days, clashes between protesters and security forces have seen six fatalities and [...]
Venezuelan government sends military to electronics outlets November 10, 2013 THE VENEZUELAN government physically took over some branches of an electronics chain over the weekend, demanding that the company lower its prices. The popular line of stores, Daka, was forced by the government to lower its prices, driving huge crowds to some shops. Soldiers were deployed in some areas, and looting broke out at one [...]