Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (1)
Full Focus
Editor's choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article
Images of March
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Exclusive: Briton killed after threat to expose Chinese leader's wife: sources
|
9:26am EDT
Afghan Taliban says rehearsed attack for two months
10:54am EDT
Despite Obama charm, Americas summit boosts U.S. isolation
4:28pm EDT
Pope turns 85, says is in "last stretch" of his life
1:47pm EDT
Special Report: Tax time pushes some Americans to take a hike
12:34pm EDT
Discussed
130
Obama paid 20.5 pct tax rate in 2011: White House
119
Obama healthcare law could sharply worsen U.S. deficits: study
106
North Korea launches rocket amid international condemnation
Watched
A rare look into North Korea
Sun, Apr 15 2012
Obama addresses prostitute accusations
12:15am EDT
Activists say Syrian forces fire one shell a minute into Homs
Sun, Apr 15 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Inside North Korea
Rare scenes from within the reclusive state. Slideshow
Tornado devastation
Dozens of tornadoes tear through the Plains states. Slideshow
Chavez battles re-election hurdle: Venezuela inflation
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Obama urged at summit to focus on Latin America
Sat, Apr 14 2012
Cuba and drugs debate to spice Americas Summit
Thu, Apr 12 2012
Kidnapped Costa Rican diplomat freed in Venezuela
Tue, Apr 10 2012
Venezuela's Chavez leads rival in latest poll
Tue, Mar 27 2012
Chavez starts radiation therapy, may meet Pope
Sun, Mar 25 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Washington Extra: Sayonara Santorum
‘A’ levels: Not so much a gold standard, more like competitive devaluation
Related Topics
World »
Venezuela »
By Eyanir Chinea
CARACAS |
Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:51pm EDT
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is so determined to contain one of the world's highest inflation rates in an election year that his price control officials are sticking signs outside stores to enforce compliance.
The red-yellow-green traffic light notices tell shoppers whether a store is obeying new price caps.
Businesses that don't comply face fines, temporary closure or outright expropriation by his socialist government.
The initial freezing of prices of 19 key goods in December has begun to kick in: Consumer prices rose 3.5 percent in the first three months of 2012, the lowest quarterly rate since the oil exporting country introduced a new index four years ago.
But most economists believe Chavez's efforts to contain inflation will have only short-term results because increased public spending in the run-up to the October 7 presidential election is bound to stoke prices again in the oil-producing OPEC nation.
The analysts say price controls will only distort a highly regulated economy further and speed up inflation in the long run as the cheaper regulated goods become scarce and producers compensate their losses by raising prices on unregulated goods.
"What's happening is they are containing inflation but not really attacking the causes of inflation. In fact, many of the causes are being deepened," said economist Pedro Palma of the Caracas-based consultancy Ecoanalitica.
Chavez, who has nationalized great swathes of the Venezuelan economy, maintains that speculators and hoarders are fueling inflation, and he accuses his political opponents of trying to disrupt the economy to undermine his government.
"We will continue monitoring clothing, cars, food above all, medicine ... to reduce speculation to zero because it is one of the main factors causing inflation," he vowed recently. "This is just the start."
Despite suffering from an unspecified cancer, for which he is having radiation treatment in Cuba, Chavez is seeking another six-year term in October in the toughest election battle he has faced in 13 years in office.
Amid doubts over his health, Chavez's opposition is taking him to task for the high cost of living, a major gripe with voters, as well as over a rising crime rate that has made Venezuelan cities unsafe.
CASH INJECTION
Chavez has made clear that his election strategy is to put more money in the pockets of Venezuelans by stepping up an array of social programs that have redistributed income to the poor as part of his so-called socialist revolution.
The cash flow is expected to begin in the second quarter, and includes a 30 percent increase in the minimum wage that will be seen in paychecks in two stages, May and September.
His government plans to spend $26 billion on social programs for 2011-2012 and has expanded this year's national budget by 45 percent. Additional funding will come from new bond issues after the government eliminated the debt ceiling by decree in March.
Last year, Venezuela issued more sovereign paper than any other Latin American state - more than $17 billion - to fund housing projects, the import of food and medicine as well as non-essential consumer goods.
Financial analysts expect Venezuela to place at least another $15 billion in bonds on the capital markets this year.
The massive injection of funds is expected to heat up the economy and speed up inflation, putting further stress on a weakened private sector.
Venezuelan business leaders criticize the government for suffocating the economy with regulations like price controls that reduce productivity and increase the country's dependence on imported goods.
"Some producers are operating almost at a loss," complained Moises Bittan of Fedecamaras, Venezuela's main business lobby.
Venezuela has the most regulated economy in Latin America after communist Cuba and inflation rates that are four or five times higher than the region's average, according to Jose Manuel Puentes of the IESA business school in Caracas.
The official inflation target for this year is in the 22-25 percent range, but market players expect it to be closer to last year's 27.2 percent.
The government's dilemma is that the more it regulates the economy, the worse inflation will get, said Puentes.
(Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Anthony Boadle and Doina Chiacu)
World
Venezuela
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (1)
Ocala123456789 wrote:
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.