Rising inflation not as alarming as it appears

The sharp rise in regional inflation over the past year is starting to cause concern in some quarters. But a closer look reveals that the increase has been due to a jump in inflation in just two countries – Argentina and Venezuela. Elsewhere, weakening currencies over the past six months will put upward pressure on inflation, but should be at least partly mitigated by the fact that global commodity prices are, for the most part, either flat or falling.