Hundreds of poor Argentines have turned to selling their hair to a wig factory to survive a huge economic crisis, taking advantage of a plunging currency that priced imports out of the market.
G.A. Peluca factory, in the north-western town of Rosario, opted for supplies of locally grown "natural" hair when it faced a shortage of Russian synthetic wigs after the peso plunged in value by nearly two thirds this year.
The market rate for locally-grown human hair is around per five ounces, a company official said. All hair must be 1 foot long to be fit for the wig.
"We searched for natural hair in the local market to get a better and cheaper product than synthetic hair," the official said.
Rosario, one of the poorest cities in this South American country of 36 million people, was a center of food looting in December that overthrew then-President Fernando de la Rua and heralded months of political and economic chaos.
Nearly one in two Argentines live on a few dollars a day and one in five of the workforce is unemployed after a four- year recession in Latin America's third largest economy.
(Agencies)
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由于近來阿根廷遭遇嚴(yán)重的經(jīng)濟危機,貨幣貶值造成該國商品進口數(shù)量急劇下降,假發(fā)制造廠家也被切斷了貨源,于是數(shù)以百計的貧苦阿根廷人為了糊口,紛紛將自己的頭發(fā)賣給假發(fā)制造廠。
由于今年的經(jīng)濟危機造成阿根廷比索大幅度貶值,位于阿根廷西北部羅薩里奧市的G.A. Peluca假發(fā)制造廠無法繼續(xù)進口俄羅斯的用于制造假發(fā)的合成纖維,因此現(xiàn)在這個工廠只得選擇當(dāng)?shù)?自然生長"的頭發(fā)作為原料。
該公司的一位負責(zé)人說,目前阿根廷市場上自然生長的頭發(fā)價格是每5盎司11美元左右。同時為了符合假發(fā)制作的要求,所收購的頭發(fā)長度必須要達到1英尺。
這位負責(zé)人說:"由于合成纖維的假發(fā)制作成本較高,所以現(xiàn)在我們改為在當(dāng)?shù)厥召忣^發(fā),這樣生產(chǎn)出來的假發(fā)不但質(zhì)量會更好而且價格會更便宜。"
羅薩里奧市有人口3600萬,是阿根廷這個南美洲國家中最貧困的城市之一,也是去年12月份哄搶食物事件的中心地區(qū)。正是那次事件造成了當(dāng)時阿根廷總統(tǒng)德拉魯阿的下臺,并且讓該國連續(xù)幾個月時間都處在政治和經(jīng)濟的混亂狀態(tài)之中。
阿根廷曾經(jīng)是拉丁美洲的第三經(jīng)濟大國,但是自從該國4年前開始遭受經(jīng)濟衰退至今,已經(jīng)是今非昔比。如今,有一半的阿根廷人每天僅靠幾美元過活,有五分之一的勞動力處在失業(yè)狀態(tài)。
(中國日報網(wǎng)站譯)
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