Venezuelan money supply rose 31 percent in the week through Jan. 25, according to central bank data.

That’s the fastest expansion since at least 1997 and could indicate that a panicked government has boosted spending in the face of protests, sanctions and the withdrawal of recognition by a big chunk of the international community.

Money-printing has been the driver behind Venezuela’s hyperinflation and the collapse of its currency. On this evidence, the recent strength in the black-market bolivar is illusory.