[FRANCE24] Venezuela unveils new banknotes on Friday to once again slash zeroes off its currency, battered by runaway inflation that has compounded the country's economic collapse and left many struggling to put food on the table.The national economy has shrunk by 80 percent since 2013 as the oil price crashed and output dwindled during decades of under-investment, US sanctions, and mismanagement by successive socialist governments.
The latest devaluation is the third in 13 years and gives Venezuela the dubious distinction of becoming the South American country to have removed the most zeroes from its currency.
Seven one-million bolivar notes -- the highest denomination and very hard to come by -- were needed to pay in cash for one loaf of bread in the once-rich oil-producing nation, now battling the world's highest inflation rate.
Consumers have struggled to make payment for even the most basic goods or services and public sector workers have found themselves receiving salaries paid in millions of bolivars that are effectively worth nothing.