IMF downgrades Venezuela’s growth estimate

The day after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s working visit to T&T, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its growth estimates for the Venezuelan economy, predicting it would shrink by seven per cent this year.  This is a drastic downward revision of the multilateral lending agency’s prediction last October that the Venezuelan economy would decline by one per cent. The IMF said every US$10 decline in oil prices worsens Venezuela’s trade balance by 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).IMF Western Hemisphere Director, Alejandro Werner, said consumption in Venezuela “will suffer an important contraction and shortages will worsen over current levels.” More…