Reversal of the Chavista model? Maduro points to privatization of companies

Still in the collective there is the memory of those days in which President Hugo Chávez announced the expropriation of private companies in Venezuela. “Expropriate!”, was what was heard in each televised speech, dispossessing the owners and passing into the hands of the State. Others were nationalized without much problem.

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The National Telephone Company of Venezuela (Cantv) and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) were some of those nationalized. The idea was to move towards “Socialism of the 21st Century” as Chávez repeated so many times, reducing the spaces of the private sector.

As of this Monday, May 16, Cantv would begin trading on the Caracas Stock Exchange. “Between 5% and 10% of the shares of public companies will be offered,” President Nicolás Maduro announced a few days ago. According to him, with the aim of attracting national and international investment.

The lack of state investment began to take its toll on the quality of services. In the case of Cantv, failures in telephone and internet service are constant, leaving sectors of the country incommunicado for up to years.

The proposal to offer between 5 and 10% “means the funeral of 21st century socialism,” says former deputy and economist José Guerra, who believes that Chávez’s dream of having powerful state companies “is over.”

Who will invest?

For Guerra it is difficult to think that someone is going to invest in public companies and thisFor the reason that control will continue to be held by “the same ones who broke it.”

The correct thing is an integral, transparent, competitive privatization and where the workers are partners of the companies now in private hands so that they are profitable, points out the also university professor.

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Although this vision of War differs from others. For example, the analyst and economist Tomás Socías López believes that the government announcement “It is a positive step in the economic opening, which will provide a start of confidence in the Venezuelan investor.”

He also considers that this will improve the efficiency of the services due to the private capital that will be put into play. For Socías López, these changes will be accompanied by technification and greater management in these institutions.

The numbers in the stock market

Details about Cantv’s offer on the Caracas Stock Exchange are not yet known, but only the announcement gave positive signs. The week closed with a rise of 3.40 percent in the Caracas Stock Exchange Index (IBC), as published by the agency.

Cantv’s shares increased 38.5 percent at the end of the week of May 14, but it was not among the most requested, the list is still led by Ron Santa Teresa (Bs 581,912.43), Caracas Stock Exchange (Bs 89,247.85), Fondo de Valores Inmobiliarios class B (Bs 74,914.07), Cerámica Carabobo (Bs 39,890.50), Ron Santa Teresa class B (Bs 22,937.42) and Banco Nacional de Crédito (Bs 14,204.26), according to data from the same Stock Exchange.

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The portal specialized in economy, Banking and Business, publishes that Cantv moved only 12,627.10 bolívares, which translates into 2,356 dollars at the exchange rate that the market uses as a reference.

Growth of economic activity

The report of this May 16 of the Venezuelan Observatory of Finances (OVF) points to a growth of the Venezuelan economy, but with the creation of “almost zero” added value because mostly imported goods are being marketed.

Even so, it is estimated that the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could reach 8 percent this year, this if the current trend is maintained and oil production of at least 600,000 barrels per day.

The report details that in the first quarter of 2022 the Economic Activity Index (IAE) grew 7.8 percent compared to the same period in 2021. On the collection of the Value Added Tax (VAT) was reduced by -9 percent Compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, but in year-on-year terms, collection grew 32.2 percent.

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The oil sector experienced a growth of 15.4 percent compared to the last quarter of 2021. The year-on-year growth was 41.7 percent.

The OVF explains that the increase in economic activity is due to growing oil production and the slowdown in inflation. However, “not all private sectors benefit from this growth.”

Overcoming the sanctions imposed by the United States also influenced the country’s slight recovery, but the shadow of the collapse in public services, the fall in labor income and the reduced productive capacity continues.

ANA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS

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