Venamcham anticipates falling Venezuela-US trade

The collapse of Venezuelan oil prices could press the US-Venezuelan trade down from approximately USD 70 billion ending last year after a record growth of 40 percent, said on Wednesday Edward Jardine, the chair of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Venamcham).

"We really lack an estimate, because this depends a lot on oil prices, but it will drop because the price of oil barrel triggered such growth of more or less 40 percent last year," said Jardine on the forecast for bilateral trade, during the event on 2009 Economic Prospects, hosted by Venancham. He also noted that while last year imports went as high as USD 50 billion, the potential smaller amount of available foreign currency could cut the allocation for importers.

The senior official expressed the concern of the business sector about soaring inflation estimated by Venamcham at 40-50 percent ending this year. Finally, he commented that ongoing labor conflicts would be another trouble for the private sector.