Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during the broadcast of his television program Con Maduro+, on Monday, September 2, 2024. Photo: Presidential Press.
The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced this Monday, September 2, good news for the country’s economy in 2024. The most important one is that the expect growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2024 should be above 10%
During the broadcast of his weekly television program Con Maduro+, the Venezuelan leader spoke about the growth in the banking sector, tax collection and the Gross Domestic Product in Venezuela.
The first piece of good news in economic terms is that the country recorded a 21% growth in the banking sector in the first half of 2024. The head of state said that both public and private banks have made commitments to promote financing for entrepreneurs in the country.
He also highlighted that public banks will provide one million loans from August 2024 to August 2025. Meanwhile, the private sector has committed to providing 300,000 loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
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The second good news is that Venezuela’s GDP is expected to grow at a rate above 10% for 2024, as reported by Venezuelan government economic advisors.
In this regard, President Maduro recalled that in the third quarter of the year the country registered a GDP growth of 8.78% . Therefore, he expects that 2024 will end with a higher than estimated economic growth.
“Economically, we are going to exceed the expectations that were originally estimated,” said President Maduro.
The third positive economic development announced by the president is that tax collection in August totaled 1.398 billion bolivars, equivalent to 451.37 million US dollars.
According to the president, this figure represents an increase of 209% compared to the income obtained in August 2023. And 147% more than what was collected between January and August of last year.
In this regard, the head of state explained that the increase in tax collection is a clear sign of the economic recovery that Venezuela is experiencing.
Exchange rate issues
Briefly before the July 28 presidential elections and after election day, the black market exchange rate has been growing at an unusual pace that worries some analysts. On July 22 this exchange rate was of 41.03 bolivars per US dollar while the official exchange rate was at 36.6 bolivars per US dollar, representing a gap of 10.7%, while in recent months this gap oscillates between 4 and 6%.
Inflation & Exchange Rate: Report on Venezuela’s Economy in 1st Quarter of 2024
The same variables for Tuesday, September 3, shows a widening of the gap, with the black market (parallel) exchange rate at 43.25 bolivars per US dollar against a 36.64 bolivars per US dollar in the official exchange rate. This represent a gap of 15.3%.
In recent years the gap between the official exchange rate and the black market one has created price disturbances leading to spikes in inflation. This is not the case so far in the current exchange rate scenario as many analyst point that this phenomenon is responding mostly to far-right political interests than to the real conditions of the market. This might explain why many sellers of US dollars are not finding buyers and has been selling at an exchange rate well below the black market one.
This recent instability in the exchange rate is still under control but if not tackle properly by Venezuelan authorities might lead to the undesirable scenario of an escalation of prices and the return of inflation trends. During the month of August inflation in Venezuela was reported at 0.7%, one of the lowest in several decades in Venezuela.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DZ
