Latin American Economy & Business - July 2018 (ISSN 1741-7430)

The first deputy minister for Economy & Planning, Alejandro Gil, described the economy’s performance as “acceptable” in the first half of 2018 in a presentation to the Council of Ministers in mid-June. This came despite significant external and domestic headwinds, including the impact of import restrictions, a sharp drop in the sugarcane harvest and – although he did not mention it specifically – ongoing reductions in cheap oil import from Venezuela.