Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela’s sky-high inflation soared to 24,571 percent in the past 12 months, lawmakers said Monday.
President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government controls most of the country’s economy and is in the midst of an ever-deepening crisis with food and medicine in short supply.
Analysts blame what they call mismanagement of a state-led economy. That includes its control over hard currency, as well as low oil prices. Venezuela depends on crude oil for its earnings.
The government blames US sanctions and businessmen speculating on the problems.
The latest figure comes from a National Assembly finance committee report looking at the period May 2017 to May 2018.
Meanwhile, the consumer price index in May surged 110.1 percent. It was the first time the index topped 100 percent in one month.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast that Venezuela’s hyperinflation will top 13,800 percent this year. Some lawmakers say that it could be worse: at least 100,000 percent and possibly 300,000 percent.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.