Maduro says that the Venezuelan economy grew 15% in 2022 and proposes loans in dollars

The economy of Venezuela It will close 2022 with a 15% GDP growth, according to a government projection presented this Thursday by President Nicolás Maduro, who asked the bank to grant 30% of its credit portfolio in dollars, the currency that prevails in the country.

“Venezuela It has had a growth in the year 2022 above 15% of the Gross Domestic Product, the highest growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the impact of diversifying the economy that we have not had in years”said Maduro during the presentation of his memory and account before Parliament.

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The economic activity of Venezuela began to fall in 2014, amid a collapse in the country’s main source of income, oil, and a pressing crisis that worsened after the imposition of a battery of international sanctions in 2019 as part of a US-led crusade to seek the fall of the Chavista leader, after ignoring his re-election in 2018.

Due to these punitive measures, which included an oil embargo, Venezuela stopped receiving 99% of its income, according to Maduro.

With informal dollarization and the relaxation of controls, the Venezuelan economy took a breather and, after years of recession and hyperinflation that pulverized purchasing power, registered five quarters of growth between 2021 and 2022.

“We are going step by step, it is the real economy, it is the real economy, which is going and must go better and better”, celebrated the leaderalthough experts have warned that this “recovery” may reach a ceiling in the absence of more profound measures, such as credit expansion.

Maduro asked public and private banks to “expand financing in foreign currency.” “Increase it to 30% financing in foreign currency for the economic growth of all sectors that produce goods, wealth, and employment for the country.”

The president, who did not offer data on poverty, highlighted a reduction in the unemployment rate from 8.9% in 2021 to 7.8% in 2022.

He acknowledged some “disturbances” at the end of the year that destabilized inflation, although without detailing figures. The last official inflation data published by the Central Bank is for October, with an interannual rate of 155.8%.

According to private estimates, which warn of the possibility of a return to the hyperinflationary cycle that Venezuela abandoned in 2021, the consumer price index surpassed 300% in 2022.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.