Venezuela’s central bank has been slow this year in providing economic data, not releasing inflation figures for the past four months. Venezuelan economists believe the delay may mean that the country is beginning to enter a new era of hyperinflation, which the government is trying to hide by not providing figures.
Venezuela’s central bank lends four months’ worth of economic data to the public
Venezuela’s central bank has not released economic data corresponding to the past four months, and economists are worried about the cause of the delay. The agency still has not released inflation rates corresponding to November, December 2022, January 2023, and February 2023, leaving consulting firms blindfolded and unable to make recommendations to their affiliates regarding economic strategies.
However, according to Venezuelan economist Jesus Casique, the inflation figures are just the tip of the iceberg regarding the missing data. Casiquesaidthat the Venezuelan central bank has also hidden figures for the balance of payments (foreign currency in and out), gross domestic product (GDP), and gold reserves.
Kasic explained the possible purpose of this alleged opacity.
It is very likely that the central bank does not publish inflation rates because the country is once again in the grip of hyperinflation.
According to unofficial sources, Venezuela’s inflation rate in 2022 reached 234%, the highest in the entire latam.
Actions repeated
According to the lawgoverning the Central Bank of Venezuela, one of the Central Bank’s duties is to “collect, prepare and publish the main economic, monetary, financial, exchange, price and balance of payments statistics.” This is not the first time, however, that central banks have fallen behind in their obligations to provide information on the economic performance of governments.
The bank had a three-year hiatus from 2016 to 2019, during which it did not present GDP or CPI figures. It was also during this period that the country entered hyperinflation, with later official figuresadmitting an inflation rate of 130,060%in 2018 alone.
Local economist Naudi Pereira believes that it is very important for both businesses and individuals to publish these figures. She declared that.
These figures indicate to investors whether they are likely to remain invested. Consumers are interested in knowing the rate of inflation and price changes.
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