Economy
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed dramatically its growth forecast for the Andean countries in 2009, particularly for exporters of primary products. The IMF also predicted "a serious contraction in Venezuela," according to its latest report, released on Wednesday.

According to the IMF's World Economic Outlook, all the countries of the Andean Group will grow in 2009 less than forecasted in its previous study, six months ago. In some cases, such as Ecuador and Venezuela, the economy will contract this year.

The global recession will hit greater the countries that depend on the exports of raw materials due to the decline of oil prices, the report says. This is the case of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and, above all, Venezuela, the IMF says. The International Monetary Fund predicts that "there will be a more serious contraction in Venezuela."

Venezuela, together with Ecuador, also faces higher costs to obtain financing in the markets, says the IMF. According to the report, other countries such as Colombia and Peru "with better initial positions" enjoy relatively lower costs and have successfully issued foreign debt in recent months.

The 2.4 percent growth in Venezuelan GDP in 2008 will not be repeated in 2009, when the economy is expected to shrink some 2.2 percent and 0.5 percent in 2010, the multilateral agency said. Six months ago, the IMF predicted that the Venezuelan economy would grow 3.4 percent this fiscal year, EFE reported.

The IMF predicts that Venezuela's inflation rate will reach double-digit figures in 2009 (36.4 percent) and 2010 (43.5 percent), versus 30.4 percent in 2008.

The Venezuelan economy, according to the IMF, will cease to have a current account surplus and will have a 0.4 percent deficit in 2009. The report claims that there will be a surplus again in 2010, at about 4.1 percent.