Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Over 300 restaurants and bars have been closed down in Buenos Aires in the last five months of 2008 due to high costs, the spokesman from the Association of Hotels, Restaurants, Candy Stores and Coffee Shops (AHRCC) said on Thursday.

    President of the AHRCC Luis Maria Pela said that in Buenos Aires there used to be about 9,000 restaurants, bars and pizzerias, employing some 120,000 workers, but over 300 of them have chosen to close during the last five months of 2008, including some restaurants offering traditional food.

    Pela explained that the closures were basically caused by rising costs, such as rents, taxes on electricity, cleaning as well as salaries for the employees.

    Restaurant registration suffered a 20 percent decrease, as in some places the rent rose to near 20 percent of a restaurant's monthly income from less than 6 percent before, he said.