Inflation

The Law for Fair Costs and Prices, which aims to stabilise prices, guarantee access to goods, and to attack inflation, currently at near 26% per year, came into effect.

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In local opposition and international mass media inflation is the buzzword, and because of it, Venezuela is clearly a mess, life is hopeless, and the government has got to go. Yet is inflation really the big evil it’s made out to be? How much does it impact on the lives of Venezuelans? How much worse is it, really, under Chavez, and what is the government trying to do about it and the food situation?

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Yesterday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used his standing legislative authority to sign into law a new price control mechanism aimed at putting an end to speculation and hoarding. 

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Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Nelson Merentes, President of the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV), confirmed that the percentage change for inflation in the country at the end of April 2011 was 1.5% – indicating a considerable reduction from the April 2010 reading of 5.2%.

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The Venezuelan government eliminated the preferential exchange rate of 2.6 bolivars per dollar on January 1 following a report by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) that projected 2% growth and reductions in inflation and unemployment in 2011 as Venezuela emerges from recession. 

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According to monthly statistics from the Venezuelan National Institute of Statistics (INE), inflation for last month was down, unemployment has increased slightly and overall accumulated inflation for this year is slightly higher than last year.

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Inflation dropped in June, though the first half of the year experienced significantly higher inflation than last year. In the same period, government bodies approved substantially more dollar allocations. Also, two people were arrested for attempting to destabilise the banking system using Twitter.

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The Venezuelan government continued its efforts to expand non-oil sector production on Tuesday by granting 208 million bolivars in low-interest loans to 44 small and medium-sized projects in the textile, industrial construction, agricultural, and paper industries

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Amidst a drought-induced electricity shortage and an overhaul of financial sector regulations, Venezuela saw a 5.8% drop in its GDP and an increase in inflation over the past year, while public investments, social spending and the unemployment rate have remained steady.

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In recent weeks, local and international media have attacked the left-wing Venezuelan government over alleged “economic woes”. Pointing to Venezuela’s inflation rate — the highest in Latin America — and an economy that shrank 3.3% last year, the private opposition media is raising fears of a serious economic crisis.

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