Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is celebrating the upcoming Christmas holiday with an announcement stating that civil servants, public sector employees, retirees and the military will be receiving 0.5 Petro, Venezuela’s digital currency, as an additional bonus. 0.5 Petro, according to the government, is equivalent to $30. For a developing economy with hyperinflation rates such as Venezuela, citizens earn on average less than $10 a month.
Petro is supported only on the PetroApp and in order for the above mentioned individuals to collect their reward, the requirement is for them to sign up on the app. Citizens can make selected purchases on the app and also perform transactions such as currency transfers. Maduro also revealed that he has signed an agreement with more than 50,000 stores in Venezuela to increase the real-life usage of Petro.
According to CoinDesk, town and local governments in Venezuela will also enjoy the bonus as the state is prepared to distribute 500,000 Petros from its own supply outwards.
This is the latest initiative on the government’s part to accelerate the mass adoption of Petro across the country. The Bank of Venezuela also offers the sale of Petro along with fiat currencies.
Promoting the use of Petro will give Venezuela a way out from the economic situation it faces currently with ongoing US sanctions against it. An oil-rich country, the Petro is backed by natural resources such as oil, diamonds, gold and diamonds. It is Maduro’s aim to for the Petro and the nation’s fiat currency, the Bolivar, to be fully interchangeable in terms of value and usage.
