Was reading the news coming out of the Central Bank’s press conference on GDP with some skepticism when I saw a line go by:
The (new) President of the Venezuelan Central Bank (Eudomar Tovar) said ” The (Venezuelan) economy has now shown 58 consecutive quarters of growth”
I thought to myself,: Say what? Whatever happened to 2009, or 2003 or 2000 and began looking for charts in my blog, found a couple but then decided, what the hell, let me look in the indicadores page of the Banco Central de Venezuela, after all, someone may think I altered the data.
But no, here it is the data from the BCV itself:
Funny, I see some 20 quarters of negative growth (First column inn bold) since Chavez became President. Thus, Eudomar, who was supposed to know what he was talking about, instead pulls a 1984-like fast one and tries to lie straight form the start. So much for our hopes that an economist at the helm of the Central Bank could be a positive.
So, file this with:
-Maduro wants to fight corruption.
-GDP grew in the second quarter because banks and insurance grew so much.
-Elections are clean in Venezuela.
Yeah, sure!
The Devil's Excrement 
August 27, 2013 at 12:05 pm
The webpage of the Central Banks does not say so.
August 27, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Can anyone find out? The webpage only mention the directors.
August 27, 2013 at 11:32 am
Can anyone confirm if Mrs. Maria Eugenia Merida is the new First Vice President of the Central Bank of Venezuela?
August 27, 2013 at 6:34 am
Another thing, how’s the debt thing going? There was some talk of issuing a lot of new debt lately, any word on that?
August 26, 2013 at 8:55 pm
Maduro caught another group of bad guys trying to kill him. So my guess is we are going to get a devaluation next week or introduction of the new 500 bill.
Something is about to happen.
August 27, 2013 at 12:51 am
Do fake assassination threats usually procede disruptive announcements?
Wouldn’t it be better to follow the disruption with a distraction?
August 24, 2013 at 10:58 pm
Can someone confirm if Mrs. Maria Eugenia Merida is the new Vice President of BCV?
August 24, 2013 at 7:52 am
Amazing. Now, Miguel: can you explain how there is positive growth in the last known GDP report? Is it because of the elections only? What is your prediction for the new Q?
August 24, 2013 at 1:53 am
For the various people trying to excuse this, there are only two ways to parse it:
1. He knew what he was talking about and lied, which makes him a Liar.
2. He didn’t know what he was talking about, which makes him Incompetent.
I suppose you could also argue for both, or various degrees of both. Either way, he isn’t the right guy for the job.
August 24, 2013 at 6:33 am
In chavismo, he is the perfect man for the job…and also why he was picked. Chavismo doesn’t want the truth to be told. You have to do as you are told, lie so convincingly that even you believe it, and don’t develop a mind of your own or in any way become a threat to ones in control. Doesn’t mean that he is necessarily incompetent, but in most cases they are. Power and money can easily confuse morals.
This is why maduro was chavez’s servant for so long, and his (cuba’s) eventual pick for replacement.
This can’t last forever, but I don’t see an end in sight.
August 23, 2013 at 8:34 pm
I’m changing my name. From now on please address me as Chelsea.
Thank you,
Chelsea Carlson
August 23, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Here is an overlooked piece of official corruption.
Chavez children are living in public housing in a grand scale on the public dollar with full military protection and escort. Maduro apparently has not moved into the Casona because Chavez kids are still there. The Chavez family is worth $billions but they haven’t moved out yet.
When Hugo promised a free apartment to everyone, his family got bumped to the head of the line and got first choice.
Maybe its time for squatters to take over the Casona next time nobody is at home. I suppose 50 families could fit in comfortably.
August 23, 2013 at 9:43 am
Maybe more accurate if you only insert cuba in place of venezuela?
August 23, 2013 at 6:45 am
Maybe he meant, “58 consecutive quarters of growth, both positive and negative.”
August 23, 2013 at 8:13 am
You are too kind by far, sir.
August 23, 2013 at 8:47 am
Maybe Eudomar Tovar meant, “58 consecutive quarters of growth in Chavista leader’s income.” Sort of a disguised corruption index.
Maduro and company are not in the same economy as the pueblo.
August 23, 2013 at 4:50 am
Miguel, how was the Venezuelan GDP in the past quarter? This guy says it grew, I wonder where he got the numbers from, and what would be closer to reality.
Is the answer “his behind” and “add a minus in front of what he said”? Seems reasonable to me.
August 22, 2013 at 7:33 pm
Yes Devil…. You are right.
In the press conference Eudomar Tovar contradicts himself. First he said the economy has “58 consecutive quarters of growth” and inmediately adds that the economy has 41 positive qtrs and 17 negative qtrs for a total of 58 qtrs.
See the attached video starting at second 27. Much later, at 4 min. 55 sec. VTV reasserts the error, inserting a title at the bottom of the screen saying: “Tenemos 58 trimestres de crecimiento en los gobiernos de Chavez y Maduro”
Maybe the guy suffers of glossophobia…
August 22, 2013 at 6:52 pm
I’m guessing he was counting inflation as growth.