Venezuela has cut the value of its currency against the US dollar by 32%, in an effort to boost its economy.
The measure was widely expected. The official exchange rate of the bolivar was raised from 4.3 to 6.3 per US dollar.
It was announced after the return of Vice-President Nicolas Maduro from Cuba, where he said President Hugo Chavez gave him instructions on the economy.
President Chavez has not been seen or heard in public since December, when he went to Havana for cancer treatment.
This is the fifth devaluation of the bolivar since 2003. The previous devaluation was in 2010.
The BBC reports that dollars have been trading at four times the official rate on the black market.
Opposition leader Henrique Caprilles criticised on Twitter the fact that the government announced the devaluation on Carnival Friday in South America.
