Lsaglé trom Lave winasor
A report by the First National City Bank of New York about world-wide inflation reveals that Britain, despite the moans and groans of various governments, is far from being the worst country when it comes to inflation. Readers of The Week will be surprised to see that Sweden, which used to be given as the example to emulate, had a rate of inflation over 1956-66 some 31% higher than that of Britain. Other countries which are export competitors of Britain having a higher rate of inflation are: Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and France, Inflation, as a whole, was much worse in the year 1965-66 than in the preceding ten years. A glance at the table shows that nearly every country suffered more in that year than on average for the previous decade. Of the 45 countries, 10 saw more than half the buying power of their money melt away during the decade. In six others, the currencies lost at least a third of their value. Purchasing power of the U.S. dollar dropped much more sharply last year, however,than during the decade as a whole. It fell off 2.8 per cent. Eleven countries did better than that. In one, Iran, consumer prices eased, Just how serious this is for the people of these countries isthown when one considers that inflation hit some countries last year on a disastrous scale. Some of the most serious losses of purchasing power of currencies struck in countries hit by severe shortages of food, particularly food grains. In South Vietnam, where a "rice panic" undermined inflation-control efforts, the local currency lost nearly two-fifths of its buying power in the single year.
Annual loss of currencies? buying power based on living costs.
1956-66 1965-66 1956-66 1965-66 Guatemala 0.0% 0.7% Pakistan 325% 6.7% Venezuela pe opyl Iran 365 04 Honduras 1.5 1.6 Philippines 3.6 6.0 United States 1.8 2.8 Denmark 3.6 6.9 Luxembourg 1.9 205 Mexico ne Ped f 4.0 Canada 2.0 3.6 Sweden 3.8 6.3 Australia 2.0 2e7 Japan 4,0 4.0 Greece 291 4.8 France 407 2.6 Thailand 2.2 5eT Finland 4.9 3.8 Belgium 202 329 Formosa 502 202 South Africa eae 3.6 Isreel 5.4 T2 Portugal 204 4.9 Spain 6.9 6.0 Switzerland 204 4.6 Vietnam 7.4 38.6 New Zealand 2.6 2,4 Turkey Tel Tse Ecuador 2.6 Sse Peru 8.5 8.4 U.A.R. (Egypt) 2.9 8.2 Colombia 10.8 16.4 United Kingdom 2.9 508 Bolivia 13.0 Sel Treland 35ee 209 Argentina 24.5 24.2 Netherlands 344 5.6