Food inflation: It’s getting hard for Venezuela to feed itself

Rampant inflation is nothing new to the Venezuelan economy, but in a sign of how severe the situation has grown for some people there, food prices spiked by 22.2 percent in August from the previous month, according to new research. This inflation figure represents the highest August rate in 20 years, according to data from the Caracas-based workers' advocacy group Cenda. The group said on Friday that even though prices climbed at a slower pace than the 32.6 percent inflation rate recorded in July, economists worry that Venezuela may be on the brink of greater unrest. Paula Diosquez-Rice, principal economist at IHS Global Insight, a global financial risk analysis company, said the figures provide further evidence that Venezuela's economic conditions are increasingly unsustainable. "This situation has been escalating," said Diosquez-Rice. "The people of Venezuela have had a scarcity of items for a while now." More…