Bloomberg.com: Latin America

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Bloomberg.com: Latin America: "Venezuelan 3rd-Qtr GDP Grows 9.8 Percent on Spending (Update1)

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's economy grew for an eighth quarter in the July-through-September period as President Hugo Chavez boosted government spending, targeting the poor with subsidies on food and medical services and scholarships for literacy classes and job training.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of a country's production of goods and services, expanded 9.8 percent in the third quarter from the year-earlier period after growing 8.8 percent in the first half, the central bank said in a statement.

``The Venezuelan economy right now is like giving a kid money and he spends it,'' said Benito Berber, an analyst with HSBC Holding Plc in New York. ``It's a demand driven rebound from a very low base that depends on high oil prices.''

A 38 percent increase in government spending in the first eighth months of 2005 will probably help the economy expand 9.5 percent this year after 18 percent growth last year and contractions of 7.7 percent in 2003 and 8.9 percent in 2002, Berber said.

The oil industry grew 4.2 percent while non-oil GDP grew 10.4 percent, the bank said"
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