Mr Leon thinks that Mr Chavez's party (PSUV) may well try to hurry along the process in order to take advantage of the emotions of Venezuelans still mourning their lost leader, and before problems such as Venezuela's high inflation rate return to the forefront of their minds.
BBC: Venezuelan parties gear up for polls after Chavez death
Some economists think the annual inflation rate could rise as high as 30% this year.
On the other hand, a persistently high rate of inflation will discourage consumer spending as wages have not been rising in step with inflation.
Putting an end to wage indexation does look like a move that would help the competitiveness of the small number of countries that still indulge in the practice, which ensures that a relatively high inflation rate is inevitably translated into higher wages without any guarantee of increased productivity.
This move triggered a high rate of inflation that severely devalued the dollar.
The Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, has flagged the current account gap along with high inflation as major constraints to rate cuts that many believe are necessary to revive economic growth.
Since the ECB has a strict remit to maintain price stability, its dread of high inflation is greater than its fear of recession: hence the rate rise.
In January, it also cautioned that high inflation and the country's wide current-account deficit would constrain future rate cuts.
While the rate of inflation has been slowing, companies that deal in high margins with food and gasoline like Costco have been reporting higher commodity prices this year.
Researchers said the two main factors driving food price inflation were high agricultural food prices and a low sterling exchange rate.
But as the Fed has driven interest rates on Treasuries below the inflation rate, retirees have sought higher returns in riskier investments, such as high yield bonds.
Hopes of an interest-rate cut had faded as the Federal Reserve made it plain that inflation, still stubbornly high, topped its list of worries.
But the Fed is willing to put inflation-fighting on the back burner if it can lower the unemployment rate, which is unacceptably high at 9.1%.
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