[progchat_action] Venezuelan prices climb 3 pct. in January
 
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 11:11:11 -0600 (CST)


http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=9686735

Venezuelan prices climb 3 pct. in January, making 10 pct. annual target
less attainable

The Associated Press Saturday, February 2, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela: Monthly inflation reached 3 percent in January in
Venezuela, despite efforts by President Hugo Chavez to tame consumer
prices soaring amid an oil-fueled spending boom.

Inflation in January ? usually one of the year's slowest months as
consumers recover from holiday spending ? swelled from the 2 percent rate
reported for the same month of 2007, the Central Bank said Friday in a
statement.

High oil prices are flooding the country with cash and boosting public
spending, driving 8.4 percent growth in 2007. Venezuela is one of the
world's top oil producers and the fourth-largest supplier to the United
States.

Its annual inflation rate is 22.5 percent, the highest in Latin
America.

Chavez's government aims to slow inflation to 11 percent in 2008, but
January's 3 percent figure may make that benchmark tough to reach.
Officials have put price controls on basic foods and medicines, but show
no sign of slowing record public outlays.

Independent analysts predict inflation could reach 30 percent in 2008, as
oil prices remain high and state spending continues to rise.

Chavez's government, which has slowly stripped the Central Bank of
autonomy, has also changed its method of measuring inflation, surveying
consumer prices not only in Caracas but also in the country's
second-largest city, Maracaibo, last month for the first time.

In April, inflation will incorporate prices from eight additional
cities.
------------------------------------------------------
Progchat_action is a non-partisan and progressive political news weblog, 
chat, and action discussion alternative in cyberspace: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/progchat_action/
------------------------------------------------------
"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great
moral crises maintain their neutrality" - Dante