Capriles demands VAT reduction, tax elimination, and credit reactivation to boost Venezuela's economy

Opposition deputy Henrique Capriles has called for immediate fiscal reforms in Venezuela, urging a reduction in the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the definitive elimination of the Financial Transactions Tax (IGTF). He also emphasized the critical need to reactivate bank credit as essential measures to ease the economic stranglehold affecting workers, entrepreneurs, and the private sector.

As June begins, the primary concern for many Venezuelans remains how to make ends meet. Capriles highlighted the stark contrast between the government's official economic growth figures and the daily struggles of citizens. He pointed to the significant depreciation of the Venezuelan bolívar against the U.S. dollar, noting that the currency gap continues to erode income and purchasing power. "There can be no economic recovery while salaries and incomes lose value every day. The economy will only improve when work is once again sufficient to live with dignity and thus be able to build a better future," Capriles stated on social media platform X.

Capriles denounced the persistent currency gap and structural failures in public services as the main drivers of social stagnation. He noted that the exchange rate gap remains an obstacle to income and purchasing power, compounded by daily inflation and unreliable public services, particularly electricity, which hinders production and economic growth. Official macroeconomic indicators at the end of May reveal the severity of the monetary crisis. The bolívar has lost 45% of its value against the U.S. dollar on the official market this year. The U.S. dollar, the primary commercial reference for pricing, ended May at 549.37 bolívares, an 82.2% increase from early January. In May alone, the dollar rose 12.2%, causing the national currency to devalue by 10.8% in just 30 days, pushing accumulated inflation from January to April to 90%.