Venezuela's economy grew at the slowest annual rate in over five years in the first quarter as tumbling oil revenues caused by the global recession took its toll on the Opec member nation. Venezuela's gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent in the first three months of the year compared with the same year earlier period, the central bank said on Tuesday, the slowest rate since a 2003 strike in the oil sector crippled the economy.
GDP fell 4.8 percent in the vital oil sector. "This favourable result for the Venezuelan economy comes during a deep global crisis that has negatively affected the GDP of the great majority of the world," said the central bank, which noted Venezuela's economy has grown for 22 consecutive quarters. Compared to the last three months of 2008, the economy shrank 16.4 percent. Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said in March that he would consider any growth at all to be a success this year.
Crude revenues in South America's biggest oil exporter have tumbled 56 percent this year, contributing to a $3.5 billion current account deficit, the central bank said. Venezuela posted a larger, $4.5 billion current account deficit in the fourth quarter of 2008, its first in several years. Oil prices have recovered slightly in recent months but are still less than half last year's average for Venezuela's heavy crude. Export volumes are also down 7.2 percent because of Opec production cuts, the central bank said.
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