Venezuela out of recession

SA Time: Thursday, February 24, 2011 12:57:15 PM
Venezuela out of recession
Venezuela out of recession
February 24 2011 at 11:16am
REUTERS

Venezuela has officially emerged from recession, but business leaders and independent analysts said Wednesday that modest fourth-quarter growth doesn't mean the economy will continue to expand.

After two years of recession, the gross domestic product finally returned to positive growth by expanding 0.6 percent in the last three months of 2010, according to Central Bank figures released Tuesday.

President Hugo Chavez's backers in the National Assembly heralded the news as a sign that 2011 stands to be a year of recovery. After being informed of the Central Bank's report, they chanted: “That's how you govern, that's how you govern!”

Government officials predict growth of at least 2 percent this year.

More:
http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/venezuela-out-of-recession-1.1031661

Well, at least we're not going down the drain as fast as I feared. But population increases at about 2 % per year, and the Catholic Church is still holding its position against birth control in Venezuela. So the economy does need to grow 2 % to keep the percapita GDP even.

I wonder what the 1st Q figures will be like. We do see a huge jump in inflation, food prices are very high, and there's increasing unemployment (I don't know where the government gets their unemployment figures, but they got to be faked).