The Globe News
CARACAS. –Inflation in Venezuela jumped and stood at 55,2% in January, according to data from the Venezuelan Finance Observatory (OVF).
"Starting a January with inflation above 50%, it does not tell us anything else, but that hyperinflation will continue throughout 2021 ”, explained the economist Ángel Alvarado, coordinator and founder of the OVF, at a press conference this Tuesday.
Inflation for the month of December 2020, according to data from the observatory, was 21,2%. The year closed at 3.713%.
The item that increased the most in January was recreation, by 312,7%. The cultural and entertainment sector was mostly closed from last year, until the end of last month, due to the pandemic.
They are followed, far behind, by the health sector (70,9%) and restaurants and hotels (70,3%).
Alvarado explained that these results are mainly due to the lag in the exchange rate since November of last year, which was updated in January, and to the adjustment of prices in the entertainment category.
The featured study also found that the monthly food basket, for a family of five members, was 251,2 dollars.
The economist assured that this is "bad news" for Venezuelans.
“There is a political will to solve economic problems, but not this economic problem. And this economic problem is the most important for the Venezuelan people, because this is the problem of the vast majority of Venezuelans,” Alvarado said. External source
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