Venezuela's monthly inflation hits 3.2 percent, highest this year

Consumer prices in Venezuela rose 3.2 percent in May, the country's highest monthly inflation rate this year. Prices increased by 12.4 percent during the first five months of 2008, according to Central Bank figures released Monday. If inflation continues at this rate, it will close the year at about 30 percent _ even as first-quarter growth slowed to 4.8 percent, a four-year low. President Hugo Chavez's socialist government has tried price and currency controls and raised some interest rates to try to hold down inflation, which is running at the highest pace in Latin America. Annual inflation in metropolitan Caracas reached 29.3 percent in April, the latest figure available. The Central Bank adopted a new method of measuring national inflation this year _ incorporating smaller cities and making nationwide year-to-year calculations difficult.