Venezuela opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Tuesday that the Opec member's accumulated inflation rate was 50 percent during the first four months of 2015. Capriles, who has given accurate inflation data in the past based on leaks, often criticises the central bank for failing to publish regular monthly price data.
"April is ending and we still don't know (officially) the accumulated inflation so far this year, though unofficially we hear it's nearly 50 percent," he added in comments during a visit to the Valles del Tuy region distributed by his office. A Central bank spokeswoman said she did not know when latest 2015 inflation data would be published, and could not comment on the figure given by Capriles. The central bank was previously required to publish the inflation index in the first 10 days of each month. But that regulation has been eliminated and delays have been common during President Nicolas Maduro's two years in office.
Venezuela's economic problems include inflation last year totaling 68 percent, the highest of any economy in the Americas. Critics say the government's failed socialist policies are to blame, while Maduro has said opponents are deliberately price gouging and hoarding as part of an economic "war" against him.
Opposition-leaning web site La Patilla said on Monday it had been leaked data from Central Bank statisticians showing inflation in January and February was 10.6 and 11.4 percent respectively. That, it said, took the annualised inflation figure to 96.3 percent at the end of February. Minimum-wage workers in Venezuela are the second-worst paid in the Americas, after Cuba, Capriles said. Venezuela's minimum wage is 5,622 bolivars per month. That is $20 at the black market rate for greenbacks, $29 at the weakest bolivar rate of the state's three-tier currency controls, or $892 at the strongest rate.
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