After Russia, oil pushes Venezuela into recession
1 Jan 2015 12:24 AM GMT
The South American oil giant's economy shrank 2.3 per cent in the third quarter, after contracting 4.8 per cent in the first quarter and 4.9 per cent in the second, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The inflation rate, a figure the government had not released since August, meanwhile came in at 4.7 per cent for the month of November and 63.6 per cent for the year — among the highest in the world.
Price increases were the sharpest for housing, food and alcoholic beverages, and restaurants and hotels. President Nicolas Maduro's nationalist government has introduced mandatory price cuts and rent controls in a bid to rein in the increases but has not managed to get the inflationary spiral under control. Inflation has been aggravated by severe shortages of basic goods.
The central bank has not published the index that measures the shortages since March, when it found that 19 categories of key products were experiencing "serious supply problems."
The inflation rate, a figure the government had not released since August, meanwhile came in at 4.7 per cent for the month of November and 63.6 per cent for the year — among the highest in the world.
Price increases were the sharpest for housing, food and alcoholic beverages, and restaurants and hotels. President Nicolas Maduro's nationalist government has introduced mandatory price cuts and rent controls in a bid to rein in the increases but has not managed to get the inflationary spiral under control. Inflation has been aggravated by severe shortages of basic goods.
The central bank has not published the index that measures the shortages since March, when it found that 19 categories of key products were experiencing "serious supply problems."
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