SALON

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013 3:30 PM UTC

Chavez ally: economic adjustments being considered

By

Topics: From the Wires,

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — An ally of President Hugo Chavez says the government is considering economic adjustments to combat Venezuela’s 20 percent inflation.

Former Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas told the Venezuelan station Union Radio on Monday that he understands the government is considering decisions relating to anti-inflation measures and “adjustments in some prices.”

Cabezas, a well-connected mid-level leader within the socialist president’s movement, is currently president of the Latin American Parliament, a regional organization. Cabezas also said that officials who are in charge of economic policies are to make decisions relating to currency exchange. He didn’t give details about what the measures could include.

Venezuela maintains strict currency exchange controls as well as price controls on many foods and other items.

Sporadic shortages of some foods, such as flour, cooking oil, chicken and coffee, have worsened in recent months. Causes include insufficient domestic production of such items, bottlenecks at ports and a reduction in the supply of dollars being granted by the government to import businesses.

Following months of heavy spending leading up to the country’s October presidential vote, the government starting in November reduced the amounts of dollars provided at the official exchange rate, putting new pressures on the country’s currency, the bolivar.

There have been growing rumors of a possible devaluation in recent months as the value of the dollar in black market currency trading has shot up to more than four times the government-set rate of 4.30 bolivars to the dollar.

Some analysts have said they expect the government may put off difficult economic decisions such as a potential devaluation while Chavez recovers from cancer surgery.

Chavez hasn’t been seen or spoken publicly since before his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • A missing poster hangs on a tree outside the Cleveland home of Amanda Berry Wednesday. Berry and two other women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, made a daring escape this week after being held captive for more than a decade.
    Credit: AP/Tony Dejak

  • Elvis Rafael Rodriguez and Emir Yasser Yeje offer their best impression of  Eric B. & Rakim. On Thursday, New York prosecutors identified the pair as members of an international gang that robbed $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining ATM machines around the world.
    Credit: AP

  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to a podium during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Technology Enhanced Accelerated Learning Center at Essex County Newark Tech in Newark, N.J., Tuesday. Christie made less flattering headlines this week after undergoing a secret stomach surgery to curb his weight.
    Credit: AP/Julio Cortez

  • Workers stand outside the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday after a fire broke out in its 11-story building. Eight people were killed in the blaze.
    Credit: AP/Ismail Ferdous

  • Workers rescue a woman trapped for 17 days in the rubble of a garment factory building in Saver, Bangladesh, Friday. The building's collapse was the worst industrial disaster in the country's history, killing more than 1,000 people.
    Credit: AP

  • Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gives his victory speech Tuesday in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., after winning back his old congressional seat in the state's first district.
    Credit: AP/Rainier Ehrhardt

  • Jodi Arias reacts in Maricopa Country Superior Court Wednesday after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Arias has subsequently said she wants the death penalty, claiming she'd "prefer to die sooner than later."
    Credit: AP/The Arizona Republic/Rob Schumacher

  • Ariel Castro stands for his mug shot Thursday at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, where he is being held on $8 million bail. The former bus driver is accused of imprisoning three young women and beating them repeatedly over a period of 10 years.
    Credit: AP/Cuyahoga County

  • Charles Ramsey addresses the media Monday after helping rescue three women held captive in Cleveland for more than a decade. Ramsey's hero portraiture has been complicated by revelations of his own domestic violence record.
    Credit: AP/The Plain Dealer/Scott Shaw

  • Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, testifies during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The military branch was rocked this week after its chief sexual assault prevention officer was charged with sexual battery.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations