Venezuela's Maduro admits economic 'catastrophe' [View all]

[Bacchus4.0]

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-president-declares-economic-emergency-175902635.html


Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro admitted before a hostile legislature that the oil-rich nation is mired in a "catastrophic" economic crisis, hours after decreeing a two-month state of emergency.

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The figures show the magnitude of the country's recession: the economy shrank 4.5 percent in the first nine months of 2015, the central bank said, while inflation for the same period came in at a painful 108.7 percent, fueled by crippling shortages.

"These catastrophic figures (are) the result of an economic situation that in another era of regressive neoliberal and capitalist policies would surely have pushed (the Venezuelan) people into unemployment," said Maduro.

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It gave the administration special temporary powers to boost production and ensure access to key goods, including taking over private companies' resources, imposing currency controls and "other social, economic or political measures deemed fitting."