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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重的經濟危機，貨幣貶值造成該國商品進口數量急劇下降，假發制造廠家也被切斷了貨源，于是數以百計的貧苦阿根廷人為了糊口，紛紛將自己的頭發賣給假發制造廠。
由于今年的經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假發制造廠無法繼續進口俄羅斯的用于制造假發的合成纖維，因此現在這個工廠只得選擇當地"自然生長"的頭發作為原料。
該公司的一位負責人說，目前阿根廷市場上自然生長的頭發價格是每5盎司11美元左右。同時為了符合假發制作的要求，所收購的頭發長度必須要達到1英尺。
這位負責人說："由于合成纖維的假發制作成本較高，所以現在我們改為在當地收購頭發，這樣生產出來的假發不但質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。正是那次事件造成了當時阿根廷總統德拉魯阿的下臺，并且讓該國連續幾個月時間都處在政治和經濟的混亂狀態之中。
阿根廷曾經是拉丁美洲的第三經濟大國，但是自從該國4年前開始遭受經濟衰退至今，已經是今非昔比。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狀態。
(中國日報網站譯)
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Updated: 2002-04-03 01:00
