Venezuela registers an economic growth of 17.04% in the first quarter of 2022, an indicator that allows it to position itself as the country with the highest sustained growth in Latin America.
This was reported by the president of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), Calixto Ortega, during his participation in the extended meeting of the National Council for Productive Economy, held in the Ayacucho Hall of Miraflores Palace, in Caracas.
In this context, the head of the BCV emphasized that Venezuela has registered a double-digit economic growth for four consecutive quarters.
According to the indicators, during the third quarter of 2021, the Venezuelan economy registered an increase and stood at 14.65%, while in the fourth quarter the growth was of 19.07%, compared to the same period of 2020.
Regarding the first quarter of 2022, growth was at 17.04%, compared to the same period of 2021, this being the highest in the region.
The BCV estimates that for the second quarter of 2022, the Venezuelan economy will obtain a value of an 18.7% increase, only in the non-oil private sector.
In this sense, Ortega asserted that the Venezuelan fiscal, monetary and exchange policy has been strengthened and progress has been made in the main objective: “the stabilization of the course of inflation and entering strongly into the growth part.”
Maduro: ECLAC projects growth in Venezuela between 5% and 10%
For his part, the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, highlighted that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a body dependent on the United Nations Organization (UN), projects an economic growth for Venezuela between 5 % and 10%:
“Good news for the country, record growth in the region, growth in the real economy”, highlighted President Maduro who also attributed these results to the effort, union and national work.
In this regard, he recalled that, as a result of sanctions and economic persecution, “Venezuela spent 14 continuous months without receiving a single dollar in oil revenue.”
“The more than 500 economic sanctions adopted by the US against the economic apparatus of Venezuela, against the Venezuelan population, shook the economic body and the social body of the Republic to the depths,” he denounced.
However, he stated: “Although we have lived through very difficult circumstances, we have never lost faith in the future, we have never lost the conviction that another economy is possible”.
He expressed that thanks to this effort “after having faced the harshest consequences of these criminal sanctions against our country, today we can say: Venezuela has found its path to growth, it has found the path to a new economic model.”
Tariff Exemption:
During this working session, Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez reported that the National Council for the Productive Economy will present a comprehensive proposal for the exemption of tariffs for the country’s industrial sectors.
Likewise, the Head of State announced that the Bill for the Protection of the Socioeconomic Rights of the Venezuelan population will be submitted to the National Assembly (AN), to begin its national debate and subsequent approval for the benefit of all Venezuelans.
Among other announcements, he indicated that the Organic Law Project for the Coordination and Harmonization of Tax Post-States of states and municipalities will also be presented to the AN, a tool aimed at ensuring the best collection conditions for each state and region of the country.
