[progchat_action] On the Anniversary of Black Friday: Venezuela’s economy Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:06:43 -0600 (CST) On the Anniversary of Black Friday: Venezuela's devaluation and inflation debacle from 1983 1998 By Ramsn Santiago - Axis of Logic Exclusive Feb 18, 2008, 17:02 [Email this article] [Printer friendly page] It was 25 years ago to the day when Black Friday exploded like an atom bomb over the Venezuelan economy. On that day, banks did not open their doors and the government of then President Luis Herrera Campins (RIP+) with a Central Bank almost devoid of foreign exchange reserves was forced to devalue the local currency, the Venezuelan bolmvar by 100% and impose exchange controls. >From 1961 to 1983 the exchange rate to the US dollar was fixed at Bs./US$4.30. The foreign debt of the country was around US$37 billion in 1980 and for months before the economic crisis hit, there were lines outside exchange houses to buy US dollars. In fact, capital flight of US dollars had been occurring for the two previous years and all but sucked the Central Bank dry of its reserves. Oil prices reached their peak in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution in Iran and in the wake of declining world oil prices from 1981 to 1983 the value of Venezuelan oil exports fell from US$19.3 billion to US$13.5 billion, triggering the economic crisis. Continue to read the entire article which shows the lowest rate of inflation and strongest economy in 40 years under the leadership of President Hugo Chavez Frias