Hard to find bread in shortage-stricken Venezuela
A shortage of foreign currency is seriously affecting imports of wheat, which the country does not grow
Caracas
AT A popular east Caracas bakery, customers can buy Spanish olive oil, Italian tomato sauce and even American chocolates. But bread? Forget it.
Cardboard signs on the door warning of "No bread" have become increasingly common at Venezuelan bakeries.
Venezuela gets 96 per cent of its foreign currency from oil exports, and as crude prices have plunged, so have the country's imports - among them wheat.
The leftist government of President Nicolas Maduro has tightly controlled access to hard currency, and this has affected imports ranging from medicine to toilet paper. Now, it is seriously affecting imports of wheat, which Venezuela does not grow.
Add to this the soaring inflation rate - 181 per cent in 2015, the world's highest - and you see why customers are mainly intere…
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Consumer & Healthcare
Japan’s 7-Eleven convenience chain targets aggressive global growth
Bubble tea maker Chabaidao slumps 10% in Hong Kong’s biggest 2024 debut
Parental fury after stem cell bank ruins thousands of samples in Singapore
China’s bubble tea boom creates a half-dozen billionaires
US sues to block Coach owner’s US$8.5 billion buyout of Versace parent
Cutting the cord?: Events leading up to Cordlife’s MOH suspension and arrests of its directors, ex-group CEO