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Tourists visiting Brazil for the World Cup are advised to pack a bathing suit, sunscreen, and a whole lot of cash. Home to some of the world's most expensive restaurants and hotels, and with some prices rising more as the opening match approaches, Brazil will shock those visitors whose idea of a tropical paradise is paying $1 for a beachside beer. Instead, Brazil is often the land of the $10 caipirinha (the sugar cane-based local drink of choice), the $100 risotto and the $1,000-a-night hotel room, prices fueled by many of the same imbalances and government policies that have restrained economic growth in recent years. Even by European and U.S. standards, prices for basic items are often staggering. In Sao Paulo, a bustling business hub that is surrounded by some of the country's largest coffee farms, an espresso often costs twice as much as in Lisbon, says Paulo Duarte, a pharmaceutical consultant who splits time between both cities. "It's absurd," Duarte said. "We're talking about one country that produces coffee and another that imports it." High prices are nothing new in Brazil. The country has a long history of economic instability and runaway inflation, which topped 2,400 percent a year as recently as 1993. Inflation these days is much more manageable, running at about 6 percent a year, though that is still high by international standards. Sao Paulo, for example, is the most expensive city in the Americas and the 19th most expensive in the world, ahead of New York and London, according to a recent survey by the Mercer consulting firm. Rio is among the world's 30 most expensive cities. One reason prices are so steep is because the cost of doing business is so high, thanks to a mind-boggling mix of taxes, import tariffs, bureaucracy and poor infrastructure that can make Brazil a difficult place to operate. Economists have a name for that: "Custo Brasil," or "Brazil Cost." It can make goods manufactured 30 percent more expensive than those produced abroad, according to a study by the industry federation of Rio de Janeiro. Making matters worse, production costs have climbed in recent years with rising wages and energy prices, while government policies aimed at bolstering household consumption have driven up prices at the cash register. Even for tourists with some money to burn, creative solutions are often called for. Dimitar Bogdanov and Simeon Vassilev, a Hungarian couple who visited Rio de Janeiro for the first time early this year, paid the equivalent of $100 for a risotto at one of the city's chic restaurants. But they decided to alternate their big nights out with simpler spots, and managed to spend "only" $30 at a per-kilo buffet place where you pay by the weight of your serving. "Some things are way overpriced but some others are cheap compared to Europe," Bogdanov said, recommending that tourists splurge on Brazil's famous rubber flip-flops, which can retail for $24 overseas but cost as little as $8 here. ($1 = 2.2 Brazilian reais) |
路透社建議因世界杯出巴西旅游的游客帶上泳衣，防曬霜和大量的現金。 擁有世界上最貴的餐館，酒店，并且隨著比賽的臨近一些價格還在上漲，巴西會使那些想在熱帶天堂花一美元買一瓶海濱啤酒的游客震驚。 在巴西，凱匹林納雞尾酒（選擇當地的甘蔗調制的）一杯10美元，意大利燴飯一份100美元，酒店一晚上1000美元，價格上漲是由于相同的失衡，并且近年來政府的政策抑制了經濟增長。 甚至是按照歐洲和和美國的標準，這里的物價也是很驚人的。 在圣保羅，繁華的商業(yè)中心周圍環(huán)繞著巴西最大的咖啡農場，一杯特濃咖啡的價格的是里斯本的兩倍，圣保羅杜阿爾特（Paulo Duarte）一一位醫(yī)藥咨詢師，經常往返巴西和里斯本。 他說：“這很荒謬，巴西是生產咖啡，而里斯本是進口咖啡。” 在巴西，高物價并不是什么新鮮事。有很長一段時間巴西的經濟不穩(wěn)定，通脹失控，1993年高達2400%。 近來通脹更好管理，每年通脹率約為6%，盡管這仍然高于國際標準。比如說，根據美世咨詢公司最近的一項調查，圣保羅是美洲物價最高的城市，世界上第19貴的國家，遠遠超過紐約和倫敦。里約熱內盧也躋身于全球最貴30大城市。 巴西物價這么高，其中一個原因是商業(yè)成本很高。成本這么高是由于有令人難以置信的多種稅費，進口關稅，官僚主義，以及基礎設施很差使得巴西不適合做生意。 經濟學家稱它為“巴西成本”。根據里約熱內盧工業(yè)聯合會的一項研究，這使制成品產品比國外生產貴30%。 更糟糕的是，近年來生產成本上漲和工資和能源價格上漲，然而政府政策旨在提高家庭消費，這也就推高了消費價格。 即使很多有錢的游客，也會想法省錢。 來自匈牙利的夫婦Dimitar Bogdanov 和Simeon Vassilev今年初第一次來到里約熱內盧旅行，在一個很別致的餐廳，花了100美元吃了一份意大利燴飯。到了晚上他們找一家便宜些的自助餐廳，按重量收費，“只”花費了30美元。 Bogdanov表示，巴西物價特別貴，但是也有一些會比歐洲便宜一點。他向大家推薦了巴西著名的橡膠人字拖，在海外賣24美元，但是在巴西只有8美元。 (1美元=2.2巴西雷亞爾) （譯者 1104houzhenfang 編輯 Julie） 掃一掃，關注微博微信
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