Bolivia is facing a critical presidential run-off amid its most severe economic crisis in decades. A collapse in the gas industry has led to a nationwide shortage of dollars and fuel, leaving farmers struggling to plant crops and businesses grappling with dwindling sales.

Sucre

Bolivia is grappling with a severe economic crisis marked by fuel shortages, soaring prices, and stagnating growth. The situation has made life increasingly difficult for small-scale farmers and market vendors, many of whom blame years of mismanagement and the collapse of the gas industry for the downturn. The central bank has run out of dollars, and basic goods have become unaffordable for many families.

Economists describe the country's predicament as stagflation, a combination of rising prices and shrinking economic activity. Both presidential candidates have pledged to implement reforms, including the reduction of fuel subsidies, to restore stability. However, such measures are expected to be challenging and may provoke unrest, though many Bolivians express hope for change.

Bolivia’s presidential run-off faces worst economic crisis in decades

Javier Sanchez and his extended family are finally preparing the soil to plant potatoes their livelihoods depend on. They're more than a month late. A nationwide diesel shortage meant the community tractors shared by farmers in this high-altitude village above La Paz stood idle for weeks. Fuel's been scarce for a year now and without fuel you can't get anything done. Javier blames President Luis Arce for an economic crisis that's made life for small-scale farmers nearly unsustainable. We've adapted by saving what we harvest, enough to feed our kids, but it's now impossible to buy noodles, rice or sugar at the market. I hope this election changes things and that fuel goes back to normal. Years of mismanagement and the collapse of Bolivia's once lucrative gas industry are at the root of the crisis. A collapse that set off a chain reaction. The central bank ran out of dollars, truck drivers spent the night in queues for fuel and the prices of basic goods have soared. At El Alto's 16 de Julio market, South America's largest open-air fair, business has also dried up. Estela Guarina has been making jackets for 40 years. She says they've gone from selling 15 on a good day to none at all. It's a constant worry, day and night. What are we going to cook? Where will I get money? There's none left. I feel rage and helplessness. It's useless to protest. What can I do? Bolivia's economy is stuck in a dangerous combination of rising prices and shrinking growth that's hitting ordinary people hard, a condition economists call stagflation. Economist Gonzalo Chavez says the country urgently needs fresh dollars and a government capable of tackling corruption and restoring confidence. So in reality stagflation is just the tip of the iceberg, the result of an economy that failed to diversify, that generated a large public deficit, that reduced poverty but only monetary poverty, that didn't invest in human capital or productivity growth, that enjoyed the rent and consumption but not comprehensive development. Both presidential candidates are promising to fix the economy, but doing so will require painful reforms, including phasing out long-standing fuel subsidies that have sparked unrest in the past. Yet most people here say they're ready for change and hope these are the seeds of a new beginning. I'm Alessandro Rampietti, Al Jazeera, El Alto, Bolivia.

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