Crisis-hit Venezuela halts publication of another major indicator

Venezuela has stopped publishing money supply data, depriving the public of the best available tool to ascertain soaring inflation in one of the world's worst-performing economies. The country quit issuing inflation data more than a year ago, but annual consumer price rises are widely seen to be in triple digits, driven by an unraveling socialist system in which many people struggle to obtain meals and medicines. A money supply indicator known as M2 was up by nearly 180 percent in mid-February from a year earlier, according to the central bank before it halted the release of the weekly data without explanation last month. More…