Venezuela Prices Jump Most on Record as Store Shelves Empty
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Venezuelan consumer prices increased at a record pace in May as a shortage of dollars reduces supplies of everything from butter to toilet paper.
Prices climbed 6.1 percent from April, the central bank said today in an e-mailed statement, the fastest gain since the price index was created in 2008 and exceeding the 4.1 percent median estimate of four economists in a Bloomberg survey. The annual inflation rate accelerated to 35.2 percent from 29.4 percent the month before. Prices in Caracas rose 6.2 percent in May, the highest monthly jump since June 1996, taking the year-on-year increase to 33.7 percent.