Epicurus
Reasonable
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8464960.stm
Economic Woe: Venezuela's further slide into state-owned slump
City centre shops are now subject to raids by soldiers, checking to make sure prices have not been artificially raised in the wake of this month's currency devaluation.
The bolivar's official exchange rate, which is set by government decree, had been held at 2.45 to the US dollar since the last devaluation in March 2005.
Shops in Caracas have been dimming their lights to conserve power
But it now has two rates - 2.60 to dollar for "priority" imports, and 4.30 to the dollar for other items considered non-essential - a 50% devaluation.
At the same time, chronic energy shortages have led to a programme of regular power cuts throughout the country, although the resulting outcry has led Mr Chavez to exempt Caracas from the blackouts while maintaining them elsewhere.
Opposition politicians have been quick to accuse the Chavez government of underinvestment, just as they did in 2006 when a viaduct collapsed on the main road from Caracas to the airport, rendering the highway impassable for more than a year.
But in both cases, previous administrations are equally to blame for the lack of infrastructure spending, including Mr Chavez's immediate predecessor as president, Rafael Caldera, who died on Christmas Eve aged 93.
More worrying is Venezuela's apparent inability to get to grips with persistent inflation, which is now the highest in Latin America, reaching an annual rate of at least 27% in 2009.
Last week, yet again, Mr Chavez merely fuelled the inflationary spiral by raising the minimum wage to compensate workers for their loss of purchasing power. At the same time, he has attempted to impose price controls which have largely failed to work.
These heavy-handed measures have steadily brought more of the Venezuelan economy under state control, but they have not done anything to promote economic growth.
While most of the country's Latin American neighbours are leaving the global recession behind, Venezuela is still bogged down in the financial mire. The country's central bank has estimated that the economy shrank 2.9% in 2009.
And according to the International Monetary Fund, Venezuela is set to be the region's worst performer in 2010, with a projected contraction of 0.4% in a year when Latin America as a whole is expected to grow by 4%.
As the respected survey organisation Consensus Economics puts it: "Price controls have done little to cap price increases and the authorities have refused to tackle underlying reasons for high inflation, most likely because this would conflict with the state's socialist agenda."
Economic Woe: Venezuela's further slide into state-owned slump
City centre shops are now subject to raids by soldiers, checking to make sure prices have not been artificially raised in the wake of this month's currency devaluation.
The bolivar's official exchange rate, which is set by government decree, had been held at 2.45 to the US dollar since the last devaluation in March 2005.
Shops in Caracas have been dimming their lights to conserve power
But it now has two rates - 2.60 to dollar for "priority" imports, and 4.30 to the dollar for other items considered non-essential - a 50% devaluation.
At the same time, chronic energy shortages have led to a programme of regular power cuts throughout the country, although the resulting outcry has led Mr Chavez to exempt Caracas from the blackouts while maintaining them elsewhere.
Opposition politicians have been quick to accuse the Chavez government of underinvestment, just as they did in 2006 when a viaduct collapsed on the main road from Caracas to the airport, rendering the highway impassable for more than a year.
But in both cases, previous administrations are equally to blame for the lack of infrastructure spending, including Mr Chavez's immediate predecessor as president, Rafael Caldera, who died on Christmas Eve aged 93.
More worrying is Venezuela's apparent inability to get to grips with persistent inflation, which is now the highest in Latin America, reaching an annual rate of at least 27% in 2009.
Last week, yet again, Mr Chavez merely fuelled the inflationary spiral by raising the minimum wage to compensate workers for their loss of purchasing power. At the same time, he has attempted to impose price controls which have largely failed to work.
These heavy-handed measures have steadily brought more of the Venezuelan economy under state control, but they have not done anything to promote economic growth.
While most of the country's Latin American neighbours are leaving the global recession behind, Venezuela is still bogged down in the financial mire. The country's central bank has estimated that the economy shrank 2.9% in 2009.
And according to the International Monetary Fund, Venezuela is set to be the region's worst performer in 2010, with a projected contraction of 0.4% in a year when Latin America as a whole is expected to grow by 4%.
As the respected survey organisation Consensus Economics puts it: "Price controls have done little to cap price increases and the authorities have refused to tackle underlying reasons for high inflation, most likely because this would conflict with the state's socialist agenda."
