The Venezuelan government has announced a 60-day economic emergency to deal with the country's worsening crisis.
President Nicolas Maduro will govern by decree for two months.
The edict includes tax increases and puts emergency measures in place to pay for welfare services and food imports.
The government's move came as official figures released by the central bank showed that the Venezuelan economy had contracted by 4.5% in the first nine months of 2015.
The emergency was declared hours before President Maduro delivers a State of the Nation address to Congress for the first time since his centre-right opponents took control of the legislature.
The decree also instilled more state controls on businesses, industrial productivity and on electronic currency transactions.