RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “The lower growth rate of liquidity was 18% compared to February and a moderate exchange rate devaluation of 6%, due to the payment of taxes, resulted in the March inflation rate of 9.1% being the lowest since we make this measurement,” reported OFV.
These data place the inflation from March 2020 to March 2021 at 3,867%, according to former opposition Deputy Alfonso Marquina when presenting the numbers.
However, the OVF, which reported inflation rates above 50% last January and February, said it expects the indicator to accelerate as of this month.
“This is a deceleration of prices that with high probability is circumstantial. We think that prices are going to accelerate in April again and follow the hyperinflationary path -which the opposition claims the country has been going through since 2017-, since the fundamentals that generated it still remain,” added Marquina.
Particularly, the sector that experienced the highest rise last month was the health sector, with 36.3%, due to the “collapse of the health system in Venezuela and the rebound of covid-19,” Marquina said.
In addition, the opposition warned that, despite the fact that inflation did not exceed 10 points in March, the food basket for a family of five reached “a historic maximum” of US$289, an amount that makes it unaffordable for most Venezuelans.
Source: El Diñero