Inflation-hit Venezuela to print bigger bills

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s government will begin printing larger-denominated bank notes sometime this year, a top finance official said, as runaway inflation has eroded the value of the nation’s biggest bill to less than a U.S. dime on the black market.

Venezuela’s economy shrank 5.7 percent last year while shortages of basic goods multiplied, adding to social tensions and undermining support for President Nicolas Maduro, whose socialist party lost congressional elections in December by a landslide.

The misery is expected to continue this year as world prices for oil hover near a 13-year low, cutting into earnings from petroleum, which account for 95 percent of Venezuela’s export revenue.