Weekly Report - 17 November 2011 (WR-11-46)

VENEZUELA | Bouncing back. President Chávez, who on 13 November addressed his first major rally since being taken seriously ill in June, said the economy would grow by 4% this year, almost twice the budgeted rate of 2% for 2011. The economy grew by over 3.5% year-on-year in the third quarter, he said. While announcing that the repatriation of Venezuela’s gold reserves would begin before the end of the month, the president of the central bank, Nelson Merentes, claimed that the worst was over for the economy. The construction sector grew by 6% over this period but the all-important oil sector grew by just 0.2%.