Why is Venezuela trying to sell its gold? How much gold does Venezuela have left? How long can the Venezuelan government survive on gold reserves?

How is the Venezuelan government’s deficit financed?

Many analysts are venturing to link the crisis that plagues the Venezuelan economy with the fall in the price of crude oil. With oil being one of the most important commodity in Venezuelan production and the country’s main export product, it seems that the fall in the price would bring any country with an economic structure similar to Venezuela’s into a crisis. Similarly, many assume that the problems in Ecuador have the same root as those in Venezuela, although less pronounced.

The country of Venezuela is dangerously approaching hyperinflation. At 2015’s year-end, official figures had yearly inflation at or above 180% (some private sector estimated it at 330%). The technical definition of hyperinflation is when inflation is at 50% or more per month, meaning that Venezuela is not yet at this point, but does seem to be approaching at an accelerated pace.