Venezuela's Chavez Offers A Peek At New Price Caps
10 Februar 2012 - 3:42AM
Dow Jones News
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez gave a preview Thursday of new
limits on the prices of many consumer goods in the country by
unveiling lower prices on brands of bottled water and
deodorant.
A five-liter bottle of water sold locally by Coca-Cola Femsa SAB
(KOF, KOF.MX), Latin America's largest Coke bottler, will see its
average price cut nearly in half to a fixed 12.45 bolivars, or
about $2.90.
Chavez added that a deodorant marketed by Procter & Gamble
Co. (PG) will be lowered by 24% to 13.50 bolivars or $3.14.
"We are not asking (companies) to lose money," Chavez said
during a televised appearance. "Only that they profit in a rational
manner, that they not steal from the people."
The Chavez government has undertaken a far-reaching expansion of
price caps by examining the books of an estimated 16,000 firms that
do business in Venezuela to determine "reasonable" profit for their
products. Chavez has said he will seize companies that don't comply
with government-set adjustments.
Officials launched the effort last year after passing the Law of
Fair Prices and Costs but have held back the release of specific
prices on a first wave of 19 items, mostly personal-hygiene and
household-cleaning products, for several months now. The delay has
unsettled local retailers as they wait to assess the impact of the
measure on their operations.
On Thursday, Chavez said the announcement would be made in the
next few days before revealing two of the coming changes.
Companies that face audits include local units of multinationals
like Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL), PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), H.J. Heinz Co.
(HNZ), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Unilever PLC (UN, UL) and
Nestle (NSRGY, NESN.VX), as well as local food distributor and
packager Alimentos Polar.
Chavez, who is seeking re-election this October, has said
rampant speculation in the private sector is responsible for the
country's notoriously high inflation, which stood at an annualized
rate of 26% in January.
Business leaders, however, say that the government's statist
policies are the cause of economic imbalances that have produced
the steep climb of consumer prices and wide-spread shortages of
basic goods.
-By Ezequiel Minaya, Dow Jones Newswires; 58-414-120-5738;
ezequiel.minaya@dowjones.com
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