Shoppers in a Venezuelan supermarket. Photo: AFP.
The president of the Venezuelan National Association of Supermarkets and Self-Services (ANSA), Ítalo Atencio, reported that between January and April 2022 there was a 4 % growth in consumption, maintaining the trend of 2021.
Atencio provided this information during an interview with the news outlet Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) on Friday, August 5.
#EnVideo📹| Pdte. de @ansa_venezuela, Italo Atencio ofreció un balance de los primeros seis meses de este año y explicó "en el primer trimestre hubo un crecimiento en el consumo del 4%, manteniendo la tendencia del año anterior".#VenezuelaEsPaz pic.twitter.com/36jOpluZTY
— VTV CANAL 8 (@VTVcanal8) August 5, 2022
Giving an assessment of the first six months of 2022, the ANSA president said, “Compared to 2020, the January-December 2021 consumption had grown by 7.4 %, and the first thing we noted during January-April is that the growth trend remained at 4 %.”
RELATED CONTENT: Chinese Investors Acknowledge Venezuela’s Special Economic Zones Law
He also indicated that for the months of “May-June we noticed a slowdown in that growth trend, as there was an inflation that was reported by various institutions.”
“We believe that what happened was that the General Tax on Large Financial Transactions had an impact on the economy,” he explained. “Whenever there is a tax, the economic agent protects themselves, because they do not know where things are going.”
“There is an issue with this tax that needs to be reviewed,” he added. “We have warned that, for example, if we sell to a friend, I sell to you, you sell to Pedro, each one does a transaction in a foreign currency, and this tax is multiplied. In other words, in the end it can lead to an increase in prices, which in fact can be seen in the economy.”
Venezuela moves forward
In Atencio’s opinion, the expectations of the financial sector for the first half of 2022 were met, but “we were worried that the trend of May-June would continue. It changed in July, and revisions are being made. If that happens, the year will end as we said at the beginning: it has been a very good year.”
RELATED CONTENT: Venezuelan Government Waives Export Duties on Cocoa and Derivatives
#EnVideo📹| Pdte. de @ansa_venezuela, Italo Atencio enfatizó que se cumplieron las expectativas del sector en este semestre 2022, "nos preocupaba que la tendencia de mayo-junio se mantuviera".#VenezuelaEsPaz pic.twitter.com/2RORT0hPJU
— VTV CANAL 8 (@VTVcanal8) August 5, 2022
However, he expressed that the fiscal issue still needs harmonization. “We are still on the path of understanding that Venezuela is moving forward, a path that no one can stop,” he stressed.
“We see this perception in every state we visit,” Atencio said. “When you ask in each region, two questions: how is the country? The majority of people say that it is going to be better, and you can see the optimism and hard work of the people. And the question how is the country going to be? The answer is ‘even better.'”
(Últimas Noticias) by Janna Corredor
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF
