May 24, 2005
Venezuela's economy grows 7.9 percent in the first quarter

(Reuters) - "Venezuela's economy grew by 7.9 percent in the first quarter helped by public spending, consumption and high oil prices (...) the Central Bank said.

Venezuela's economy is expanding after recovering from two years of recession following a brief 2002 coup against President Hugo Chávez and a strike eight months later that temporarily reduced crude oil production.

'This is now the sixth consecutive quarter of growth and, more importantly, shows 2005 is going to be a growth year,' Finance Minister Nelson Merentes said at a press conference (...)

Government officials expect the economy to grow about 10 percent this year. Merentes said he expected the economy to stabilize and register steady growth of around 3 percent to 5 percent over the next few years.

Merentes pointed to the growth and demand in the non-oil sector, which grew 9.3 percent with construction expanding 15.4 percent and transport 14.7 percent. The public sector grew 5.1 percent and the private sector grew 8.9 percent.

Venezuela registered a current account surplus of $4.62 billion in the first quarter compared with a surplus of $3.52 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.