The price of raw materials is "soaring," oil is out of control (which raises transportation costs) and there's a movement to increase Chinese wages.
"This figure is worrying because it only partially reflects the impact of oil prices," said Joshi, who expects the secondary impact of high fuel prices, through raised transportation costs for example, to become apparent in the next few weeks.
States, for example, could raise more transportation funds by squeezing toll plazas closer together and building another plaza or two.
The government says it won't raise public transportation prices, but many Venezuelans get to work on private buses that would probably raise fares.
As proposals to raise more transportation revenue have failed to draw sufficient political support, charging a toll is now seen as one of the few viable paths to developing major routes.
Lawmakers in both houses had agreed on a compromise plan to replenish the fund with $3.75 billion in receipts from the 11.5-cent-a-gallon gas tax over the next four years, while capping the amount of debt that can be raised for transportation projects at $650 million a year.
That is why eight states this year have passed measures to raise additional transportation funds through higher fees and gas taxes; and 15 other states have considered legislation to do the same.
To be fair to the foot-in-mouth gold medalist, he wasn't the only one raising doubts about transportation arrangements, security, and other issues.
One option is to keep the price of diesel cheap, because it is used in most freight and public transportation, while raising gasoline prices for relatively prosperous car owners.
The move is an interesting one for a company that has made a lot of aggressive moves to own the transportation space, raising some serious funding in the process to do so.
