National Assembly denies hiring Steve Hanke to dollarize Venezuela

On August 21, 2026, according to information published by Efecto Cocuyo, Venezuela's National Assembly hired U.S. economist Steve Hanke, known as the “money doctor” for his prescriptions of official dollarization, to seek a way out of the country's inflationary crisis. According to the same report, the well-known American economist was already working with National Assembly deputies from the PSUV.

The move comes amid mounting pressure on domestic prices. According to El Nacional, citing figures from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), inflation accelerated to 19.9% in July, while the year-to-date cumulative rate reached 175.5%. This trend directly erodes the purchasing power of wages in bolívares, pushing households to rely entirely on foreign currency to get by.

The formal dollarization promoted by Hanke would involve abolishing the national currency and adopting a foreign currency, usually the U.S. dollar, as legal tender and unit of account. While this would immediately curb the unplanned expansion of money by the monetary authority, it would also mean the complete loss of monetary and exchange-rate policy as sovereign tools for confronting external shocks, such as a fall in oil prices.

For workers and the real economy, the debate over the exchange-rate anchor raises a deep question about who bears the costs of adjustment. While commercial and financial sectors perceive transactional stability, popular sectors and small industry face the rigidities of a dollarized economy without adequate reserve backing, which often translates into credit contraction and structural unemployment.

The real scope of Hanke's advisory role in the National Assembly (AN), and whether the Executive is willing to give up the remaining room it has over money issuance, will need close monitoring, as will the concrete impact these measures would have on the already battered incomes of Venezuelan families.

It should be noted that the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, rejected the report and said it is false that Steve Hanke has been hired, and that action will be taken over this false news. (UltimasNoticias)