Venezuela’s President Maduro holds a speech in front of the National Assembly in Caracas on January 15, 2022 (AFP/CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro welcomed the end of four years of hyperinflation on Saturday and said he expected growth of 4% in 2021, during his “annual message” to the Nation.
In 2021, Venezuela recorded a cumulative inflation of 686.4%, with a monthly rate that never exceeded 50% – the limit that some economists pose to speak of hyperinflation according to the reference in the field, Phillip Cagan.
“This makes us optimistic. We have overcome the burdens of hyperinflation. With a lot of discipline, work, effort. With a lot of intelligence, daring and wisdom, in 2022 we will walk a path to level the ‘inflation,” Maduro said in a roughly 3-hour speech to the National Assembly.
After four years marked by hyperinflation, the president assured that 2021 was the first year of recovery and “growth” for the country.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the country’s GDP per capita, after 7 years of recession, has fallen to a level below that of Haiti.
The president said that the “annual growth (in) 2021 projected” is “greater than 4%”, also evoking a growth of 7% in the third half.
However, these figures are not confirmed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which predicts an eighth negative year.
“2022 will be the year of emergence, we will see an expansion of entrepreneurship” despite the “economic war” of the United States, added the president who regularly accuses the American sanctions intended to oust him from power as those responsible for the country’s economic situation.
© 2022 AFP
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