Hello and welcome to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. I'm Jane Chambers. Today, I'm in La Passe, the administrative capital of Bolivia.

With the economy, we all think the same. We are in an economic crisis. Prices for everything are going up, but we are still earning the same.

The South American country is suffering an economic and political crisis.

Declining natural gas production has crippled Bolivia's ability to earn dollars.

Import costs have surged as a result, sending inflation soaring to around 15%,

one of the highest rates in the region.

And businesses say they've been hampered by government restrictions on credit card

spending.

The problem with the credit cards is that all the banks have put limits that are ridiculous.

So you can spend about $35 a month in the online purchases.

$35 is nothing for a business, right?

Bolivia was the economic success story of the 2000s.

So what's gone wrong?

That's all coming up in today's business daily.

Taxi driver Gonzalo Rios is finding life difficult

as we drive along the pothold streets of La Paz on a bright sunny morning, he tells me about his problems.

Before, it was easy to fill up with petrol.

Now I have to wait for around four hours at the petrol stations to get some, and that's too much.

It's such a waste of time.

And that's so difficult having to wait for four hours. Why does it take so long?

Because there's a shortage of petrol, but we need it for our work, so we have to queue for it.

There is no alternative. And what about the prices? Have they gone up?

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