Inflation Soars in Venezuela

The decline in purchasing power of the Venezuelan population is such that the methodology used by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) for measuring the items that make up the various types of basic basket of products has become worthless already, without detailing the changes or its effects, attempting to prove that inflation levels are under control, or simply to stop reporting the performance of economic indicators in order to hide the real deterioration of the national economy. Today, people see how their incomes slip out of their hands as they become insufficient to cover their minimum nutritional, healthcare, transportation, clothing, housing or any other need to guarantee their quality of life. Just to have an idea on how much inflation has spiked, given that the BCV has not released the figures on consumer prices since December of 2014, it is enough to have a look at the monthly variations in the costs of the basic basket of goods released by the Center of Social Analysis and Documentation of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (Cendas-FVM). More…