Post by livinginmedellin on Apr 27, 2016 11:45:12 GMT -5
Venezuela is shortening the workweek for public sector workers to just Monday and Tuesday, in an effort to save power as a drought pushes the water level to new lows at the country's main hydroelectric dam.
President Nicolas Maduro announced the change in his weekly television address, adding that the shortened workweek would last "at least two weeks," Reuters reported.
Maduro "said the water level behind the nation's largest dam has fallen to near its minimum operating level thanks to a severe drought," The Associated Press reported.
He blamed the El Niño weather pattern, and said conditions "would return to normal when it started raining again," the BBC reports.
According to the wire service, experts have also blamed a "lack of planning and maintenance."
Venezuela's 2.8 million government workers were already on a truncated schedule in an effort to save power. Earlier this month, the country declared it would give public sector workers Fridays off for several months, as the Two-Way has reported.
The latest announcement also comes less than a week after the government said it would be shutting off power for four hours daily. According to Reuters, the new measure won't include workers "in sensitive sectors such as food."
Critics say the move will make little difference because of the power that government workers will use from their homes.
"Maduro says that 'we in government don't stop working for a second'. Of course. Except for Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays!" satirized Leonardo Padron, a columnist for pro-opposition El Nacional newspaper, via Twitter," Reuters reports.
The electricity crisis is just one of a slew of challenges facing oil-rich Venezuela, whose economy has been hit hard by the drop in global oil prices. As the Financial Times reports, "The power crisis merely adds to the woes of ordinary Venezuelans already suffering shortages of basic foodstuffs as the fall in oil prices hits government revenues, resulting in lower imports of sugar, flour and eggs."
In fact, The Associated Press says that many government workers have been using their Fridays off to wait in lines for staple goods.
See: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/27/475859770/venezuela-cuts-public-employees-work-week-to-2-days-to-save-energy
What a joke of a country... they also reportedly can't even pay to print more currency...
Venezuela’s epic shortages are nothing new at this point. No diapers or car parts or aspirin -- it’s all been well documented. But now the country is at risk of running out of money itself.
In a tale that highlights the chaos of unbridled inflation, Venezuela is scrambling to print new bills fast enough to keep up with the torrid pace of price increases. Most of the cash, like nearly everything else in the oil-exporting country, is imported. And with hard currency reserves sinking to critically low levels, the central bank is doling out payments so slowly to foreign providers that they are foregoing further business. Venezuela, in other words, is now so broke that it may not have enough money to pay for its money.
See: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-27/venezuela-faces-its-strangest-shortage-yet-as-inflation-explodes
President Nicolas Maduro announced the change in his weekly television address, adding that the shortened workweek would last "at least two weeks," Reuters reported.
Maduro "said the water level behind the nation's largest dam has fallen to near its minimum operating level thanks to a severe drought," The Associated Press reported.
He blamed the El Niño weather pattern, and said conditions "would return to normal when it started raining again," the BBC reports.
According to the wire service, experts have also blamed a "lack of planning and maintenance."
Venezuela's 2.8 million government workers were already on a truncated schedule in an effort to save power. Earlier this month, the country declared it would give public sector workers Fridays off for several months, as the Two-Way has reported.
The latest announcement also comes less than a week after the government said it would be shutting off power for four hours daily. According to Reuters, the new measure won't include workers "in sensitive sectors such as food."
Critics say the move will make little difference because of the power that government workers will use from their homes.
"Maduro says that 'we in government don't stop working for a second'. Of course. Except for Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays!" satirized Leonardo Padron, a columnist for pro-opposition El Nacional newspaper, via Twitter," Reuters reports.
The electricity crisis is just one of a slew of challenges facing oil-rich Venezuela, whose economy has been hit hard by the drop in global oil prices. As the Financial Times reports, "The power crisis merely adds to the woes of ordinary Venezuelans already suffering shortages of basic foodstuffs as the fall in oil prices hits government revenues, resulting in lower imports of sugar, flour and eggs."
In fact, The Associated Press says that many government workers have been using their Fridays off to wait in lines for staple goods.
See: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/27/475859770/venezuela-cuts-public-employees-work-week-to-2-days-to-save-energy
What a joke of a country... they also reportedly can't even pay to print more currency...
Venezuela’s epic shortages are nothing new at this point. No diapers or car parts or aspirin -- it’s all been well documented. But now the country is at risk of running out of money itself.
In a tale that highlights the chaos of unbridled inflation, Venezuela is scrambling to print new bills fast enough to keep up with the torrid pace of price increases. Most of the cash, like nearly everything else in the oil-exporting country, is imported. And with hard currency reserves sinking to critically low levels, the central bank is doling out payments so slowly to foreign providers that they are foregoing further business. Venezuela, in other words, is now so broke that it may not have enough money to pay for its money.
See: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-27/venezuela-faces-its-strangest-shortage-yet-as-inflation-explodes