Venezuela headed for double-digit contraction amid political crisis
Caracas — Venezuela’s economy is on track towards its second consecutive year of double-digit contraction as a political crisis torpedoes activity and ordinary Venezuelans suffer from runaway inflation, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF forecasts Venezuela’s GDP will plunge 12% this year, down from a 7.4% tumble it forecast just three months ago. The fund’s revised outlook for the Andean nation is worse than all estimates of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, and follows a dismal 2016 when the IMF estimates GDP shrank 18%. "This political crisis poses significant downside risks for growth if it escalates further or remains unabated for a long period," the IMF’s Western Hemisphere director, Alejandro Werner, wrote in a report released on Tuesday. "If living conditions continue deteriorating, Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis could spin out of control, increasing the number of people migrating to neighbouring countries." Venezuela has become a stag...
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