A story from Caracas: (Barely) Bread & Circus. Positive MagazineReportageJanuary 26, 2017January 26, 2017 Caracas, Venezuela. By the end of 2016 Venezuela had an official inflation rate of 180.5%* (*data from The Wall Street Journal, July 2016) – one of the highest in the world. However IMF predicts it to rise to 1642% in 2017.