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Axis of Logic
Finding Clarity in the 21st Century Mediaplex World News
Venezuela: Economic Policies Stop Inflation’s Growth
By News Bulletin
Ven Global News (MINCI)
Thursday, Mar 13, 2008
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March 3, 2008 | ||
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During a press conference offered at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, the Venezuelan Planning Minister, Haiman El Troudi, informed that the Comsumer Price Index in the country reached 2.2% in February 2008, 0.8% lower than the figure registered in January 2008.
Troudi assured that the Bolivarian government is still working on the reduction of inflation. He stressed that inflation grew in the last semester of 2007; however, “we have reduced the inflation level with a tendency to reduction.” He added that the Bolivarian government has made possible to keep up the economic growth, which is estimated to be 8 point this year. Regarding the increase of inflation by late 2007, he recalled that this is due to multiple factors, including the political issue: The December 2 referendum. He stressed that “this year we will close with an inflation rate lower than what our projections foresee.” Likewise, he highlighted that they are neutralizing the negative effects of the imports of foodstuffs (whose prices show the inflation of their countries) on the inflation levels of the Venezuelan economy. Regarding the food shortage, the Venezuelan official said that “we can say that it has decreased. The shortage levels are 20% lower than the ones registered in December and January.” In addition, El Troudi referred to the people’s perception in this regard. He quoted a poll conducted by the regional newspaper Panorama, which shows that 53% of Venezuelans think the shortage problem will be solved. He also pointed out that people should not resort to nervous shopping and should not buy unusual amounts of food, which is known as family hoarding. The Venezuelan planning minister also mentioned the private banking and added that he backs up the decision of the Venezuela’s Central Bank regarding the interest rates. He stressed that the reduction of interest rates will allow the population to have a greater saving capacity. Unemployment Regarding Venezuela’s unemployment rates, El Troudi revealed that Venezuela starts the year for the first time with a 10.2% unemployment rate, the lowest in its history. According to history, Venezuela’s unemployment rate increases in January; however, the Venezuelan official recalled that “this is a high stationary unemployment rate” as he mentioned that the goal is to close the year 2008 with a 5.5% unemployment rate.
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