Illustrations Show The Outrageously High Prices For Basic, Everyday Products In Venezuela

Prices in Venezuela keep going up and up. The annual inflation rate soared to 63.4% in August, according to the latest figures published by the central bank.

Meanwhile, the country is plagued by food and good shortages and the local currency, the Bolivar (Bs), has plummeted under the regime of President Nicolás Maduro.

To capture Venezuela's economic crisis, Reuters photographer Carlos Garcia Rawlins photographed basic items - like a towel or a can of cola - and price-tagged them as if they were sold in US dollars at the official rate of 6.3 bolivars to the dollar.

"My aim was to demonstrate how Venezuela's currency controls and runaway inflation - the annual rate is more than 63%, the highest in the Americas - are distorting the economy," Rawlins said on the Reuters photographers' blog. See the illustrations here, then head over to the blog to learn more about how Rawlins created this project.