Post by scumbuster on Feb 4, 2021 6:27:50 GMT -5
Venezuela’s Economy Shrank 41% in Q4 of 2020
CARACAS – The Venezuelan Observatory of Finances (OVF) overseen by a finance commission at the formerly opposition-controlled Legislature (aka National Assembly or AN) appointed by the interim government led by Juan Guaidó reported on Thursday that the national economy shrank 41.7% in the fourth quarter of 2020 from the same period a year ago.
The most affected were the financial sector with a 60% drop, followed by the public sector (42%), oil sector (41%), and commercial sector (20%), with the latter triggered by fuel supply disruptions that prevented cargo movements in many parts of the country and also by mobility restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said finance commission team member Alfonso Marquina in a press conference.
What’s more, the oil sector has recorded a sharp 82.2% decline since 2013, which “proves that it is impossible to financially support such a big State based only on oil exports, which have been heavily affected as a result of the destruction of state-run oil company PDVSA and the performance of the international market,” Marquina pointed out without mentioning that the sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration had deepened a drop in oil activity.
Likewise, the contraction experienced by the public sector since 2013 (99%) is the highest to date among all the economic sectors that have been measured.
The lawmaker recalled that the economy slightly recovered in January 2019 with a growth of 7.7%, spurred by “activities that do not provide a greater added value to the country and that had mostly to do with the slight upturn experienced by the oil sector.”
“It is worth noting that the COVID-19 cannot be entirely blamed for this deceleration of 41% during the fourth quarter of 2020. If we compare the economic performance of other countries in the region, we would have as a result that the drop in economic activity in Venezuela was four times bigger than other nations that had a negative economic impact due to the pandemic,” Marquina added.
www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2498652&CategoryId=10717
CARACAS – The Venezuelan Observatory of Finances (OVF) overseen by a finance commission at the formerly opposition-controlled Legislature (aka National Assembly or AN) appointed by the interim government led by Juan Guaidó reported on Thursday that the national economy shrank 41.7% in the fourth quarter of 2020 from the same period a year ago.
The most affected were the financial sector with a 60% drop, followed by the public sector (42%), oil sector (41%), and commercial sector (20%), with the latter triggered by fuel supply disruptions that prevented cargo movements in many parts of the country and also by mobility restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said finance commission team member Alfonso Marquina in a press conference.
What’s more, the oil sector has recorded a sharp 82.2% decline since 2013, which “proves that it is impossible to financially support such a big State based only on oil exports, which have been heavily affected as a result of the destruction of state-run oil company PDVSA and the performance of the international market,” Marquina pointed out without mentioning that the sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration had deepened a drop in oil activity.
Likewise, the contraction experienced by the public sector since 2013 (99%) is the highest to date among all the economic sectors that have been measured.
The lawmaker recalled that the economy slightly recovered in January 2019 with a growth of 7.7%, spurred by “activities that do not provide a greater added value to the country and that had mostly to do with the slight upturn experienced by the oil sector.”
“It is worth noting that the COVID-19 cannot be entirely blamed for this deceleration of 41% during the fourth quarter of 2020. If we compare the economic performance of other countries in the region, we would have as a result that the drop in economic activity in Venezuela was four times bigger than other nations that had a negative economic impact due to the pandemic,” Marquina added.
www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2498652&CategoryId=10717