10 pictures reveal the huge amounts of cash the people of Venezuela need to buy everyday things

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August 20, 2018 1:46 PM

On Friday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced he will raise minimum wage and the create a single exchange rate pegged to his government's petro-backed cryptocurrency, which would effectively devalue Venezuelan money by 96%.

In a plan designed to tackle hyperinflation, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday announced plans to raise his country's minimum wage and create a single exchange rate pegged to his government's petro-backed cryptocurrency, effectively devaluing the country's currency by 96%, Reuters reported.

Venezuelans rushed to shops on Friday to stock up on goods before the monetary overhaul — which will remove five zeros from prices — takes effect.

Hyperinflation has meant that piles of cash are needed to buy basic products. Images by Reuters show the daily realities of the crisis.

A kilogram of tomatoes costs around 5,000,000 bolivars or $0.76.

Shoppers rushed to stockpile food before the reforms take effect on Monday amid concerns that merchants might close and the banking system could be overtaxed.

A 2.4 kg chicken is pictured next to 14,600,000 bolivars, or $2.22.

A kilogram of carrots is pictured next to 3,000,000 bolivars, or $0.46.

"I came to buy vegetables, but I'm leaving because I'm not going to wait in this line," Alicia Ramirez, 38, a business administrator, leaving a supermarket in the western city of Maracaibo told Reuters. "People are going crazy."

A toilet paper roll is worth 2,600,000 bolivars, $0.40.

“Venezuela needs big economic changes and we are going to do it ourselves,” Maduro said at a rally in May.

A package of 1kg of rice is pictured next to 2,500,000 bolivars, or $0.38

A package of diapers is pictured next to 8,000,000 bolivars, $1.22.

Poor Venezuelans without bank accounts have for months been carrying wads of cash to make basic purchases. Inflation hit 82,700 percent in July as the country's economy continues to suffer, Reuters reported.

A package of 1kg of corn flour is pictured next to 2,500,000 bolivars, or $0.38.

People walk past a graffiti that reads: "Maduro, misery"

President President Nicolas Maduro said economic war is being waged against Venezuela by adversaries, with wealthy business owners raising prices to put pressure on the socialist government. A phenomenon that was also seen in Allende's Chile before the 1973 coup.

He said that the new measures would bring stability to the country.

People look for products at a supermarket in Caracas

Empty supermarket shelves have become a common sight.

Maduro has declared a public holiday on Monday when the new bills with lower denominations will be introduced.

People shop at a vegetables and fruits stall in Caracas.

Maduro has declared a public holiday on Monday when new bills with lower denominations will be introduced.

Since a decade long oil boom, the decline of Venezuela has seen hundreds of thousands of citizens leave the country by bus across South America in one of the region’s worst migration crises.

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