On Christmas Eve, meat prices soared in Bolivia

For more than a year, Bolivia has been facing a sustained rise in the prices of some products, but in the last days of the year the cost of beef, chicken and pork suffered a rise of between 26% and 76% in the main cities of the country. Chicken had a historic increase in its price, going from costing around 13 to 15 bolivianos to 23 or 25. "The price of chicken has gone up for two weeks, at this time it usually reaches 18 bolivianos, but never as expensive as now," said a chicken vendor at a market to the news portal Urgente. According to the merchants, in addition to the increase in demand during this festive time of year, suppliers justify the increase in prices by the low production of chicken in some departments and the difficulties in obtaining fuel for its transportation. Since the beginning of 2023, Bolivia has suffered a drop in gas production, the country's main export item, and has had to use international reserves to maintain subsidies for imported fuel, which is one of ...