I solve this common problem by directly accessing the hash that is set in an external module (package). Here's the code:

  package G;
  use strict;
  use Config::General;
  use vars qw( %CF );
  %G::CF = ParseConfig("./config.dat");
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elsewhere, when I want to make use of the info in the hash

use strict;
my $foo = $G::CF{foo}
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Note the use of Config::General a great config file reader/writer.

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Nothing is too wonderful to be true
-- Michael Faraday