國外囧事: 西紅柿漲價威脅巴西總統連任

President Dilma Rousseff may be among the world’s most popular presidents but her re-election next year is being jeopardised by a formidable opponent: the humble tomato.

巴西總統迪爾瑪•羅塞夫(Dilma Rousseff)可能是世界上支持率最高的總統之一，但她明年競選連任的前景正受到一個可怕對手的威脅：不起眼的西紅柿。

The price of tomatoes is partly seasonAl, but is also symptomatic of rising inflation. It is as sensitive in Brazil – in particular in São Paulo and its state of the same name – as onions in India because of the foodstuff’s status as a staple in a region whose Italian roots run deep.

西紅柿價格一定程度上呈現季節性變動，但也是通脹上揚的症狀。西紅柿在巴西（尤其是在聖保羅市以及聖保羅州）就像洋蔥在印度一樣敏感，因爲它在這個與意大利淵源很深的地區是主要蔬菜。

Bad weather this year has driven tomato prices up by about threefold, provoking protests from restaurateurs in a city known for the country’s best pizzas and pastas. It has thrown a spotlight on nagging inflation .

今年天氣惡劣，推動西紅柿價格漲了2倍，引發聖保羅市餐廳老闆的抗議。聖保羅市的披薩和意大利麪舉國聞名，味道最好。這凸顯出通脹問題令人擔憂。

“I’ve had this restaurant for 48 years and this has been the worst price rise I have seen,” said Walter Taverna, whose restaurant is a fixture of São Paulo’s Italian district, Bixiga.

餐廳老闆瓦爾特•塔韋爾納(Walter Taverna)表示：“我經營這家餐廳已經有48年，這是我見過的最嚴重漲價。”他的餐廳已經成爲聖保羅市意大利區Bixiga的一道固定風景線。

He said he had resorted to buying imported tomato purée from Italy.

他表示，他已經轉而從意大利進口西紅柿泥了。

Inflation is a highly emotive issue in Brazil because of the country’s struggle during earlier decades with runaway price rises of up to 2,500 per cent.

在巴西，通脹是個高度敏感的問題，因爲巴西曾有數十年期間物價失控，漲幅高達2500%。

The inflation rate remains well below that of other emerging nations, such as neighbouring Argentina, where it is more than 24 per cent. But last month it hit 6.59 per cent, breaching the top of the central bank’s target range of 4.5 per cent plus or minus 2 percentage points.

目前巴西的通脹率遠低於鄰國阿根廷等其它新興國家。阿根廷的通脹水平已經超過24%。然而，上個月巴西的通脹率達到6.59%，打破了巴西央行設定的4.5%上下浮動2個百分點的目標區間。

Although analysts expect it to moderate later in the year, it will continue to pose challenges for Ms Rousseff as she tries to kick-start an economy that grew less than 1 per cent last year.

儘管分析人士預計，今年晚些時候巴西通脹會趨緩，但這仍對羅塞夫總統構成挑戰，她正試圖推動巴西經濟增長。去年，巴西經濟增長率不到1%。

She owes much of her popularity rating of 78 per cent to the record low unemployment rate but any inflation shocks will undermine voters’ feelings of wellbeing ahead of elections next year.

羅塞夫的支持率達到78%，這主要歸功於她把失業率保持在創紀錄低位，但通脹引發的震盪將在明年大選之前破壞選民的幸福感。

That is why at Ceagesp, São Paulo’s central market for fruit and vegetables, the tomato is the dominant topic of conversation among traders.

因此，在聖保羅的水果蔬菜中央市場，西紅柿是商販們談論最多的主要話題。