- The sectors that showed the greatest increase in prices were services, communications, home equipment and education.
The Venezuelan Finance Observatory (OVF) reported on July 4 that cumulative inflation in Venezuela reached 18.1% during the first half of 2024, after recording an average price increase of 2.4% in June.
According to OVF calculations, inflation fell 1.5 points last month compared to May, when it was 3.9%while the annualized rate reached 68%.
The agency explained in a press release that the slowdown in inflation is due to the fall in the price of the dollar in the country, since almost all goods and services are fixed in the US currency.
Another of the causes mentioned by the OVF is the wage restraint that the government of Nicolás Maduro has been applying, since there has been no adjustment to the minimum wage or pensions since March 2022, when these incomes were set at 130 bolivars, then about 30 dollars and now at 3.5 dollars, according to the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).
President Nicolás Maduro recently said that June ended with the lowest inflation in 39 years, although he did not indicate the figure that is being handled by official bodies.
Inflation by sector
The non-governmental organization (NGO) detailed the sectors that showed the greatest increase in their prices:
– Services with 8%
– Communications 4.9%
– Home equipment 3.7%
– Education 3%
According to the OVF report, urban cleaning increased by 7.9%, cable television by 7.1%, mobile telephony by 6.3% and landline telephony by 7.3%.
The report also detailed the behavior of consumer price indices (CPI) for the month of June in the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, Zulia, Anzoátegui, and Nueva Esparta.
The state with the highest inflation figures was Anzoátegui with 4.8%, followed by Zulia with 2.7%, Nueva Esparta 2.2% and the Capital District with 1.6%.
Inflation in May
On June 5, the OVF reported that inflation in Venezuela during the month of May was 3.9%, which meant an increase of 1% compared to April, when the figure was 2.9%.
The cumulative rate (January to May 2024) reached 15.3% and the year-on-year inflation (May 2023 to May 2024) reached 78%.
The NGO added that the sectors that saw the biggest price increases during May were services (7.2%), communication services (6.8%) and education (4.4%).
According to the report, all services increased in May: 18.2% for electricity; 16.7% for water; sanitation and gas services increased by an average of 7%; cable television service by 5%; cell phone service by 14.4% and Internet by 4%.
By country area, the OVF highlighted that during May there was an inflation of 5% in Anzoátegui, 4% in the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, 3.6% in Zulia and 3.2% in Nueva Esparta.
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2024-07-05 15:39:14