Inflation jumps sharply in January

February 2, 2007

(Version en español aqui)

When I first heard that inflation for January was “only” 2%, which annualized would become 30%, I was very suspicious as it was not very consistent with my personal experience in the last four weeks. But then I read that the category “Food and Beverages” had an increase of 4% (60% annualized!, 29.2% since May 2006 and 31.1% in the last 12 months) and it seemed consistent. Remember this is “official” inflation which includes items like sugar, black beans and powdered milk which can’t be found anywhere at regulated prices. Recall that the 20+% inflation in this category last year was blamed by the previous Minister of Finance on “seasonal” shortages of onions and tomatoes.

This entry was posted on February 2, 2007 at 12:32 am and is filed under Venezuela.

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