Venezuela entered a recession in 2014, with the economy shrinking in the first three quarters, the Central Bank said on Tuesday, blaming political opponents for the dismal figures.| Nick the Mad works to complete the job that Oogo started... |
| But since the government there is socialist/communist, you can't believe any of the numbers, even the numbers that make them look bad -- the real data might make them look even worse... |
The central bank statement, confirming an economic contraction widely forecast by analysts, came just before President Nicolas Maduro was about to start a news conference in which he was expected to announce economic changes.
| That's all he's been doing, economic changes... |
"These actions against public order blocked the correct distribution of basic goods to the population, as well as the normal development of production of goods and services," the bank statement said. "This resulted in an inflationary spike and a fall in economic activity."
| These folks should read A Tale of Two Cities sometime, in which Charles Dickins explains how the entire city of Paris was fed without any apparent central plan... |
"With one day of the year left, they publish the September, October and November figures. The highest in the world. Economic efficiency Nicolas! Wonderful," scoffed opposition leader Henrique Capriles via Twitter.
Venezuela had not published inflation data since August.
Inflation in September was up 4.8 percent, October 5.0 percent and November 4.7 percent, compared with the same months of 2013, the bank said in its statement. The bank said Venezuela's balance of payments posted a surplus of $6.8 billion by the end of the third quarter, with a current account surplus of $899 million, and the capital account showing a deficit of $568 million.