Venezuela president vows to tighten price controls

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is vowing to expand price controls in a bid to battle rampant inflation. Maduro said Tuesday he will increase enforcement of rules that limit the profit retailers can make. He also said he would expand price controls to all goods and services, and said no profit margin should exceed 30 percent. He did not provide details about how the new system would be put in place. Critics blame existing price controls for increasing shortages in the country, partly because many businesses say they cannot cover costs without getting a government-subsidized exchange rate, and that can be hard to obtain at a time when falling oil prices have squeezed government revenues. More…