Venezuelan economy grows 8.78 pct in Q2

CARACAS, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) — Venezuela’s economy grew by 8.78 percent in the second quarter of 2024, reaffirming a positive trend that has seen 13 quarters in a row of economic growth, Venezuela’s Central Bank BCV said Thursday.
“Gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 8.78 percent in the second quarter of 2024, while in the first quarter it increased 8.4 percent compared to the same period in 2023,” the BCV said.
Growth figures began in the second quarter of 2021, reflecting the South American country’s process of economic recovery, according to the bank.
The oil sector, historically the country’s most vital industry, logged an 11.08 percent growth in the second quarter.
Continued growth has been achieved despite U.S. sanctions that “continue to adversely affect the dynamism of economic activity,” the bank noted.
Between 2019 and 2020, economic activity in Venezuela declined sharply “as a result of the deepening of coercive measures” imposed in 2019, the bank said, referring to the sanctions.
“The results of the last three years indicate that the Venezuelan economy is on a real path of recovery, reinventing itself and overcoming its obstacles,” added the central bank. ■