According to analysts, banking industry representatives, and consumers, inflation and government restrictions have made credit cards in Venezuela almost worthless and old financial instruments.
In a note from the Reuters agency, the news of credit cards in the South American country was exposed and, according to data from the country’s superintendency of banks, these they represented only 2% -equivalent to about 16 million dollars- of the credit portfolio of Venezuelan banks at the end of December 2022, a figure that for 2012 was 12%.
In this sense, a Venezuelan bank executivewho asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, He told the news agency that hyperinflation and regulations have ended consumer credit, thus making this type of financing no longer a business for banks.
For his part, the citizen and administrator Lina Pereirafrom the city of Valencia, commented that his two credit cards, both with low limits: “They are useless” and, the purchases that could previously be made with these instruments in Venezuela are just memories.
Likewise, the economist Luis Arturo Bárcenas, from the Ecoanalítica firmexpressed that consumer credit is what is punished, and it is also the least likely to be delivered. “Often, these credits were not only to buy appliances, but also for day-to-day expenses”said.
That being said, it is worth mentioning that the Venezuelan government would have taken multiple measures to reduce inflationincreasing the supply of foreign cash, limiting credit, reducing government spending and raising taxes. However, prices rebounded at the end of 2022, bringing annual inflation to 234%.
Finally, in January of this year, President Nicolas Maduro urged banks to grant loans to companies indexed to the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela so that they can “produce goods, wealth”but did not mention other loans or consumer credit.
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