By Deisy Buitrago
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s economy has grown by around 15% over the past year, President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday during his annual State of the Union address, attributing the expansion to the diversification of the largely oil-based economy.
The South American country’s economy grew 17.73% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2022, the central bank said in December after an eight-year economic meltdown.
The country, under its largely state-controlled model, has experienced sustained economic hardship that has prompted more than 7 million people to migrate.
“Venezuela posted growth of over 15% in gross domestic product in 2022, the best growth in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Maduro told lawmakers, ministers and other guests during an hour-long speech, thanking businessmen and entrepreneurs for their efforts.
Maduro’s government, faced with US sanctions, relaxed private sector regulations in 2019 to allow more foreign currency inflows.
While the move has helped some industries, annual inflation remains high — hit about 37% in December, according to a non-governmental group — and many Venezuelans are struggling to afford groceries and other basic goods.
The government and state-owned companies such as oil company PDVSA had begun paying some suppliers in dollars to reduce bolivar spending and lower inflation. But the government defaulted on payments in late 2022 amid dwindling foreign currency revenues.
Maduro repeated his frequent calls for the United States to lift sanctions, saying “imperialism and its lackeys” are costing the Venezuelan economy $411 million a day, although he offered no evidence of that figure.
“Over the years we have learned to do more with less. We will see Venezuela’s economic results for 2022, but the impact of sanctions remains brutal,” Maduro said. “Enough sanctions, Joe Biden administration lift all criminal sanctions!”
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Maduro added he hopes the United States will free billions of dollars from restrictions so they can be used to fund humanitarian efforts agreed with the country’s opposition.
Venezuela’s central bank has started releasing some economic data more consistently, but has yet to resume reporting its outstanding balances.
(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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