Venezuela’s economy grew 17% in Q1, says central bank president

Venezuela’s economy grew 17% in Q1, says central bank president

Photo: Leonardo Fernández Viloria – Reuters

 

Venezuela’s economy grew 17.04% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, the country’s central bank president said on Tuesday.

By Reuters – Vivian Sequera

Aug 23, 2022

“This is the highest growth in the Latin American region,” central bank President Calixto Ortega said in a state broadcast, giving the first official data on Venezuela’s economic growth since the first quarter of 2019.





Ortega said the central bank has an estimate for second-quarter growth, but did not share the figure. He did say the private sector rebounded 18.7% in that period.

The central bank president added that the Venezuelan economy grew 19.07% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

The South American country’s economy has been submerged in a severe recession since 2014 while battling high inflation.

Its GDP, which was equivalent to about $400 billion a decade ago, is now between $50 billion and $60 billion, according to estimates by analysts and economic firms.

Read More: Reuters – Venezuela’s economy grew 17% in Q1, says central bank president

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