The expectation was of the country before the presentation of the memory and account of the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. With an economic ups and downs that the nation is experiencing and which, if corrective measures are not taken, could unleash a new era of hyperinflation, there were missing figures in the surrender.
(Also read: Why is it the first time in 7 years that poverty has been reduced in Venezuela?)
From the National Assembly, where the head of state must constitutionally attend, for almost three hours Maduro gave a “historical account” of Venezuelan politics, leaving the indicators, which according to his calculations, are favorable to the last minute.
The president assured that due to the sanctions imposed by the United States, the country recorded a 99 percent drop in oil revenues, which include all production, extraction, refining, and distribution activities, this with “the objective that Venezuela does not have access to resources to invest in its economy”.
With 927 sanctions, according to the president’s data, before the executive order issued by US President Barack Obama, the country produced 2.8 million barrels of oil – Maduro did not say how many barrels are being produced today, although a production of 700,000 is estimated. per day – without that production, the country stopped receiving 3,995 million barrels.
In addition, 232 billion dollars did not enter. The impact on the non-oil economy was 642 billion dollars, only 1 percent of what was supposed to enter the national income and “it is estimated that imperialism stole 411 million dollars a day from Venezuela,” Maduro declared before a parliament with a Chavista majority.
However, there were no figures on how much oil revenue is for Venezuela at this time, but he did stress that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had a growth of 15 percent “that we had not had in years”, because “indicators are improving ”, highlighted the Chavista leader.
According to the International Monetary Fund, by 2020 Venezuela registered an unemployment rate of 58.3 percent and the figure was similar in 2021, surpassing countries such as South Africa with 29 percent and Sudan with 21.9 percent for those periods.
Complying with the Constitution and the Venezuelan people, I presented the Annual Message to the Nation. 2022 of resistance, in which we seal small and great victories that have their roots in a historical process of Bolivarian and revolutionary struggle that paves the way for the future. pic.twitter.com/lwaDOz0qZC
— Nicolas Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) January 13, 2023
It is estimated that imperialism stole from Venezuela 411 million dollars per day
In 2021, in his memory and account, the president said that unemployment stood at 8.8 percent, but in this 2022 it closed at 7.8 percent.
According to the latest Survey of Living Conditions (Encovi) of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, the formal sector of the economy recovered, standing at 56 percent and informality at 49 percent, but there are no unemployment figures as such.
On inflation and poverty, Maduro preferred not to speak. In 2021 he said that “general poverty (was) at 17 percent and extreme poverty at 4 percent, when it comes to housing, health, education, etc., needs.” For that year, Encovi placed it above 94 percent.
For the Venezuelan Finance Observatory (OVF), an independent body, lInflation for all of 2022 was 300 percent, and although Maduro remained silent On this issue, he promised to stabilize the exchange rate to curb inflation.
There was no information on salaries either. The president limited himself to saying that at his best Venezuela had the best salary in the region.
Today the salary in Venezuela is 130 bolivars, which is equivalent to 7 dollars a month.
ANA MARIA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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