Although oil prices recently reached a 1-year high, the Venezuelan economy continues to struggle. Last week the government announced a series of steps intended to promote growth and raise employment, while reducing inflation. More information can be found here.
In terms of specifics, the Venezuelan economy grew at 4.8% last year, but GDP declined by 2.4% in the most recent quarter. Meanwhile, inflation is predicted to reach 27% for 2009, an unsurprising estimate – it seems that every week I entered a grocery store this spring the prices had gone up.
Imported products, which make up a significant portion of items since Venezuelan has relatively weak national food industries, were particularly expensive. One positive, however, was the personal health impact – the high costs kept me from buying too many name-brand cookies.