CARACAS, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela registered a 25.1 percent inflation in 2009, the highest rate in Latin America, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) said on Thursday.

    The accumulated variation of the consumer price index in 10 major cities of the country last year was some 5 percentage points less, compared with a year earlier.

    The index had an inter-monthly variation of 1.7 percent, lower than the figure of 2.6 percent in December 2008.

    According to the BCV, in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, the costs rose 26.9 percent and in Maracay, capital of Aragua state the yearly inflation rate was 27.1 percent. In the rest of the country the yearly average was 23.3 percent.

    With these figures, Venezuela had the highest inflation rate in Latin America. In Argentina, the yearly inflation rate was 15 percent, in Uruguay 5.9 percent, in Bolivia 4.5 percent, in Brazil4.5 percent, in Costa Rica 4.05 percent, in Peru 2.2 percent and in Colombia 2 percent.

    The Venezuelan government has said that the country's inflation rate will be between 20 percent to 22 percent this year. But other local experts predict that the inflation rate in 2010 will be more than 35 percent.

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