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 around $6 billion, 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".
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".