Venezuela economy grew over 9% in 2024: Maduro
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US and Western sanctions have suffocated Venezuela's economy for years, with triple-digit inflation and millions of Venezuelans emigrating overseas.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks after signing an agreement at the National Electoral Council headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela on June 20, 2024. (AP)
President Nicolas Maduro reported that Venezuela's economy has grown by more than 9% in 2024, according to a translation of an interview released on Wednesday by Mexican media source La Jornada.
Maduro told Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet that 2023 brought "5.5% (growth). In 2024, according to all scientific, statistical, and technical data, we will surpass 9% growth in gross domestic product, with a very high level of growth in the real economy, as well as in the hydrocarbons sector."
US and Western sanctions have suffocated Venezuela's economy for years, with triple-digit inflation and millions of Venezuelans emigrating overseas.
In 2019, the government eased limits on the private sector, allowing for informal dollarization, which rescued important areas of the economy.
However, many say the policy is insufficient to achieve a comprehensive economic recovery.
The interview with Maduro is expected to air on Venezuelan official television on Wednesday.
Slashing hyperinflation; one of Maduro's biggest achievements
Days before Maduro was reelected in July 2024, a Bloomberg report indicated that Maduro's greatest achievement to date has been crushing hyperinflation.
Calculations using statistics from the central bank show that as of May, annual inflation had dropped from a peak of 130,000% six years ago to 60%.
In September, Maduro announced that the Venezuelan economy has achieved 8% growth and may exceed 10% by the end of this year, stressing that "the economy is sacred because the future of the country depends on it.’"
Additionally, Maduro stressed that Venezuela, which is under constant threat of sanctions, has found a way to face and overcome them, pointing out that it is not the only country in the world that is burdened with more than 10,000 sanctions, citing Russia as an example of one such country whose currency has become the fifth in the world, and has become the fourth country in economic development in the world.
As for China, Maduro said that today it is the world's major economic, technological, and commercial power and that its currency has become the second most used currency in international trade, noting that the Chinese yuan is a real currency and was not built on the basis of speculative paper.
Maduro emphasized that the new world has already been born, and the yuan is an expression of this new world.
The Venezuelan president further revealed that businessmen in the United States are increasingly interested in investing with his country, away from the political diatribes and statements of White House spokespeople.
Maduro also stressed that no one can take Venezuela out of the energy equation, pointing out that there are more than 70 investors from BRICS countries and beyond investing in oil, gas, and petrochemicals in Venezuela, stressing that Venezuela is ready for these investments because they are the guarantee of energy stability in the world.
Maduro said that the policy of imperialism at this stage is directed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and designed by the Pentagon, and is seeking to control the world.
"They are developing a policy of absolute control, mobilizing their far-right and fascist allies to subjugate countries that refuse to submit to their control," Maduro said.
