Venezuela is in serious economic trouble. Production of oil – the backbone of the economy – dropped by 400,000 barrels/day last year due to reduced demand. “Indefinite” four-hour-per-week rolling blackouts have begun in big cities as hydroelectric dams have been hit hard by a drought. And then last week, Hugo Chávez announced last Friday he will devalue the country’s currency, the bolivar, for the first time since it was introduced in 2003.

The Venezuelan people are (rightly) afraid that even more serious inflation will set in. Many rushed out last week after the announcement to buy electronics and other durable goods that would hold their value. Merchants raise their prices as a result – the exact opposite effect a currency devaluation should have.

Chávez is not amused. “‘There is no reason for anybody to be raising prices,’ Chávez said Sunday on his national television show. He explained to listeners that the ‘bourgeois’ in Caracas society would plan price increases but that they would fail. ‘People, do not let them rob you,’ he said. ‘Denounce it,’” the Washington Post reported.

But if that approach doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in the country’s stability, consider this idea:

A shipment of Chinese home appliances will be sold cheaply in Venezuelan government stores to stop speculation by retailers after the country’s currency was devalued last week, President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday.

“A boat is coming from China. It brings refrigerators, television sets and washing machines we’ll be selling at low prices, as we already do with food products in the Mercal chain,” Chavez said of the government-owned supermarkets opened in 2003.

A single appliance-laded boat from China? Well, that should do the trick for country of 28 million people.