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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(yán)重的經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)，貨幣貶值造成該國商品進(jìn)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(jì)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(jì)危機(jī)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(jìn)口俄羅斯的用于制造假發(fā)的合成纖維，因此現(xiàn)在這個(gè)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(fù)責(zé)人說，目前阿根廷市場上自然生長的頭發(fā)價(jià)格是每5盎司11美元左右。同時(shí)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(dá)到1英尺。
這位負(fù)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(huì)更好而且價(jià)格會(huì)更便宜。"
羅薩里奧市有人口3600萬，是阿根廷這個(gè)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(shí)阿根廷總統(tǒng)德拉魯阿的下臺(tái)，并且讓該國連續(xù)幾個(gè)月時(shí)間都處在政治和經(jīng)濟(jì)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(jì)大國，但是自從該國4年前開始遭受經(jīng)濟(jì)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(dòng)力處在失業(yè)狀態(tài)。
(中國日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯)
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Updated: 2002-04-03 01:00
