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Venezuelan President claims his county is unaffected by the crisis

09 February 2009 09:31 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the global economic crisis hasnâ€™t touched â€œeven a hairâ€ of the Venezuelan economy, even as the plunge in oil prices slashes export revenue for the OPEC member country, Bloomberg reports.
Venezuelaâ€™s savings, built up in international reserves and development funds, and its implementation of foreign exchange controls helped it prepare for the drop in oil prices, Chavez said yesterday in an interview with the Venevision network.
â€œNot even a hair has been touched,â€ Chavez said. â€œWhy? Because this is a solid economy. If you ask me what measures need to be taken, Iâ€™ll say weâ€™ve been taking them for some time.â€
Chavez is entering the final week of his political campaign for a Feb. 15 referendum to amend the constitution to allow him to seek another term in 2012. Caracas-based Banco Mercantil said last week that Venezuelaâ€™s economy will come to a near standstill this year and public financing needs will surge.
Gross domestic product will likely expand 0.4 percent in 2009, down from 4.9 percent in 2008, and the governmentâ€™s financing needs will rise to $31.4 billion, up from $6.3 billion last year, the bank said.
Oil accounts for 93 percent of Venezuela exports and crude oil prices have dropped 72 percent since touching a record in July.
Chavez said that oil prices rose to â€œspeculative levelsâ€ last year, when they approached $150 a barrel. He said prices are â€œreboundingâ€ and will continue to stabilize.
The government hasnâ€™t met its inflation goals, in part because of price speculation in the private sector, Chavez said. Venezuelan consumer prices rose 30.7 percent in January from a year earlier, the highest annual inflation rate in Latin America.
Chavez said that curbing inflation is a â€œbattle for everyone.â€
On whether the slowdown in economic growth worldwide will eventually affect Venezuela, Chavez said it â€œdepends on how long this crisis lasts.â€