6 Minute English / Why are prices going up?

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Rob.

And I m Beth.

In this programme, we re talking about money and Beth, as the old saying goes, money makes the world go round!

You mean it s very important and lots of things couldn t happen without it. Well, we all need money but have you noticed how our money doesn t seem to buy so much these days?

Yes, I have Beth. It seems like consumers like us are being hit in the pocket at the moment and by that, I mean we have less money to spend.

Now, I m no economist, but I know this has a lot to do with inflation - the increase in prices of things over time.

It s a big problem globally, and Beth my question for you is about inflation. According to one report, what was the annual inflation rate in Venezuela between November 2017 and 2018? Was it:a) 130%b) 1,300% orc) 1,300,000%?

I ll say b) 1,300%

OK. We ll find out if you re right later on. But let s talk more about money and inflation now. Around the world, prices of things are rising more than normal, and more worrying is that prices keep going up.