CARACAS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - OPEC member Venezuela should soon pull out of a more than year-long recession and start enjoying growth again, Central Bank President Nelson Merentes was quoted as saying in a newspaper on Saturday.
He was commenting on this week's second-quarter GDP figures showing a contraction of 1.9 percent versus the same period of 2009.
That was the smallest contraction in the last year and a big improvement on a 5.2 percent fall the previous quarter.
'We are probably coming out of the economic fall and soon we should see growth figures,' Merentes told Ultimas Noticias.
'For 2011 there should be no problem. That's what the trend tells us.'
With most analysts expecting Venezuela to be the only Latin American nation to register negative growth in 2010, President Hugo Chavez's government is nevertheless upbeat that it has weathered a recession that began in the first half of 2009.
'We're out of the worst,' Merentes said. 'The fall at the end of the year will not be significant, rather it will be very moderate, with values close to zero.'
The economy shrank 3.3 percent in 2009, after a five-year bonanza of growth and spending fueled by high oil prices.
Merentes predicted Venezuela's inflation, one of the highest in the world, would be between 27-30 percent this year. The 12-month rate to July was 30.5 percent.
He also confirmed an upcoming bond issue by state-run oil company PDVSA announced this week by Chavez and said it could be above $2 billion.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Eric Beech) Keywords: VENEZUELA ECONOMY/ (andrew.cawthorne@thomsonreuters.com; +58 212 277 2660) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
He was commenting on this week's second-quarter GDP figures showing a contraction of 1.9 percent versus the same period of 2009.
That was the smallest contraction in the last year and a big improvement on a 5.2 percent fall the previous quarter.
'We are probably coming out of the economic fall and soon we should see growth figures,' Merentes told Ultimas Noticias.
'For 2011 there should be no problem. That's what the trend tells us.'
With most analysts expecting Venezuela to be the only Latin American nation to register negative growth in 2010, President Hugo Chavez's government is nevertheless upbeat that it has weathered a recession that began in the first half of 2009.
'We're out of the worst,' Merentes said. 'The fall at the end of the year will not be significant, rather it will be very moderate, with values close to zero.'
The economy shrank 3.3 percent in 2009, after a five-year bonanza of growth and spending fueled by high oil prices.
Merentes predicted Venezuela's inflation, one of the highest in the world, would be between 27-30 percent this year. The 12-month rate to July was 30.5 percent.
He also confirmed an upcoming bond issue by state-run oil company PDVSA announced this week by Chavez and said it could be above $2 billion.
(Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Eric Beech) Keywords: VENEZUELA ECONOMY/ (andrew.cawthorne@thomsonreuters.com; +58 212 277 2660) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.