Venezuela Reports 2010 GDP -1.9%, Inflation Jumps 26.9%

[naaman fletcher]

CARACAS (Dow Jones)-- The Venezuelan economy contracted 1.9% in 2010 as the country continued to struggle with high inflation, low investment and declining oil production, its central bank reported Thursday in an annual report.

The pullback is Venezuela's second-straight loss in productivity, after the economy shrank by 3.3% during 2009.

In the report, Central Bank President Nelson Merentes attributed the shrinking economy to a 2.2% drop in petroleum-sector activity, the lifeblood of the OPEC-member. Oil and natural gas extraction slid 2.8%, the bank said.

Activity in the nonoil sectors, meanwhile, fell 1.8%.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101230-704348.html

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[social_critic]

1. They do have a problem

They are trying to implement a communist system.