Venezuelan consumer prices rose 19.5% in June compared with the prior month, data from the opposition-controlled National Assembly showed on Wednesday, as surging inflation contributes to rising poverty in the once-prosperous OPEC nation. The number was higher than the 15.3% rate in May, due largely to a further depreciation of the country’s beleaguered bolivar currency, according to opposition lawmaker Jose Guerra. The congress publishes a monthly inflation index due to an absence of regular official data. The rise in prices in June brought the interannual inflation rate to 3,524%, the data showed. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro has overseen a six-year economic collapse, prompting poverty to rise to more than 65% of households and compelling 5 million Venezuelans to emigrate. Maduro blames U.S. sanctions for the […]