"There will be price stability in the medium term. In the short term, we will witness soon a lower pressure on inflation," Armando León, a member of Central Bank of Venezuela's board of directors, anticipated in last February 2007.

One year later, statistics show that it was just an unlucky prediction. The cost of food in Caracas increased dramatically to 42.6 percent from March 2007 to March 2008. This was the highest variation in the last eleven years.

In February 2003, the Venezuelan government controlled the price of a wide range of food products. This measure led to a food shortage as businesspeople opted to sell non-regulated goods or reduce their production.

In view of the short supply of staples, the Venezuelan government had no choice but repricing in the first quarter of this current year. This move had a severe impact on low-income families that use more than half of their salaries to buying food.