Venezuela’s central bank director predicts economy to continue growing

The director of Venezuela’s Central Bank predicts the South American country’s economy will continue growing in the second half of this year.

Armando Leon says growth will be comparable to the pace from January through June, when the economy grew 4.8 percent in the first quarter and 2.5 percent in the second quarter.

Expansion during the first half of the year was spurred by increased government spending and high oil prices. Venezuela’s economy contracted 1.4 percent last year following a decrease of 3.3 percent in 2009.

The government of President Hugo Chavez has forecast that the economy will increase 2 percent to 4 percent for the full year.

Source: Washington Post