Venezuela’s economy grew more than 5% in 2023 and growth will reach 8% this year, President Nicolás Maduro said Monday during his annual address to the government’s allied legislature.
Venezuela’s economy has suffered a prolonged meltdown marked by triple-digit inflation and a mass exodus of millions of immigrants seeking better prospects elsewhere, although inflation is no longer the highest in Latin America for when Argentina surpassed 200% in the mid-2020s.
According to the Central Bank, inflation reached just under 190% last year, down from the previous year’s rate of 234%.
“In 2024 we will continue with the policy of fueling national production, recovering national income, recovering workers’ income,” Maduro told lawmakers. “We expect gross domestic product growth of around 8% this year.”
Growth was 15% in 2022, Maduro said.
Inflation will be in double digits this year, Maduro said.
State oil company PDVSA contributed $6.24 billion to the country’s coffers last year, Maduro added.
This sum, which Maduro said financed salaries, healthcare, education and housing, corresponds to what the company transferred to the government, not its total revenue.
According to a document seen by Reuters late last year, the government expects a 27% increase in PDVSA’s revenues this year, following the easing of U.S. sanctions and despite stagnant production.
The easing of sanctions, expected to last until April, has boosted Venezuelan oil prices and analysts expect the revenue to lead to more social spending as the government tries to secure support for the upcoming presidential election.
Oil revenues had previously been hit by low production due to deteriorating infrastructure and a lack of investment.
The Maduro government estimates that total expenditures in 2024 will be equivalent to $20.5 billion and that revenue from oil exports and taxes paid by PDVSA will cover 58%, according to a document seen in December.
The United States eased sanctions in October after the government signed an election deal with the opposition.
In December, US President Joe Biden granted clemency to a Maduro ally in exchange for the release of 10 Americans and at least 24 Venezuelans linked to the opposition.
The election date has not yet been set, but is expected to be held in the second half of the year.
Source: Terra
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