Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has replaced the country's currency with a "sovereign bolivar", which has five fewer zeros than its predecessor, and is linked to the controversial petroleum-backed petro cryptocurrency. Maduro's aim is to halt the country's hyperinflation, and peg wages, prices and pensions to the petro, which is worth roughly $60, or 3,600 sovereign bolivars. The move comes as Venezuela struggles under an economic crisis that began in 2014 when oil exports fell by more than half.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has replaced the country's currency with a "sovereign bolivar", which has five fewer zeros than its predecessor, and is linked to the controversial petroleum-backed petro cryptocurrency. Maduro's aim is to halt the country's hyperinflation, and peg wages, prices and pensions to the petro, which is worth roughly $60, or 3,600 sovereign bolivars. Financial experts and organisations criticised the move, calling the petro a "scam" and Maduro's decision a "smoke-and-mirrors operation".