LatinNews Daily - 2 May 2025

*Venezuela’s central bank (BCV) has announced that GDP grew by 9.32% in the first quarter of 2025, without specifying whether this was in annual or quarterly terms. In a statement, the BCV said that “the process of economic recovery that began 16 quarters ago is continuing”, adding that this process “allowed us to end 2024 with annual growth of 8.54%.” Again without specifying over which period it was referring to, the BCV said that the oil sector grew by 18.23% in the first quarter of 2025, while the mining sector grew by 13.46%, “proving the economy’s capacity to respond to the external aggression faced by our country, amid the trade war initiated by the US government”. The BCV’s figures followed a 25 April estimate by the Venezuelan think tank Observatorio Venezolano de Finanzas (OVF) that the economy contracted by 2.7% in annual terms in the first quarter. Adding to the lack of clarity, President Nicolás Maduro said on the same day that the economy grew by “over 4.5%” in the first quarter, without giving a timeframe.

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