Poverty down 10% in Venezuela

Structural poverty in Venezuela has fallen from 16.7 percent to 6.9 percent, thanks to the more equitable distribution of wealth, the national statistics chief said Friday. During an interview with state-run Venezolana de Television (VTV), Elias Eljuri, president of the National Statistics Institute (INE), listed a variety of economic measures implemented by the country's socialist government over the past 14 years, saying together they have helped reduce poverty. Meanwhile, social spending has increased from 36 percent to 62.5 percent, which helps improve the livelihood of most Venezuelans, he said. On Venezuela's current inflation woes, the INE chief noted that one of the factors behind the rise in prices was higher wages. "It's logical that if you raise wages, you raise inflation," he said. Acknowledging the importance of reining in inflation, Eljuri said that the government is taking steps to "compensate" for the price hikes.