Tuesday 10 January 2012

Venuzuela inflation


Venezuela's annual inflation at 27.6 percent
In this photo taken on Wednesday Dec. 28, 2011, a woman looks at the prices of beans at Guaicaipuro food market in Caracas, Venezuela. President Hugo Chavez's government is likely to spend heavily in 2012 to rev up the economy during his re-election bid, and that could worsen one of Venezuela's biggest problems: 27-percent annual inflation that is already close to the highest in the world. Polls consistently show that Venezuelans see inflation as one of the country's biggest problems after violent crime. Poor Venezuelans, who traditionally have been key supporters of Chavez, are particularly hard-hit by rising food prices, which according to the Central Bank, increased by more than 35 percent last year. Photo: Fernando Llano / AP



CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's Central Bank says the country finished the year with 27.6 percent inflation, the highest in Latin America.

The oil-producing nation has had the highest inflation in the Americas for six years running. Inflation in 2010 was similar at 27.2 percent.

Venezuela had the second-highest official inflation rate in the world as of November, surpassed only by Ethiopia's 31.5 percent.

President Hugo Chavez's government and the Central Bank both predict inflation of between 20 percent and 22 percent this year.

But analysts say inflation could rise above 30 percent, influenced by an expanding money supply and heavy government spending.

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