Tue June 3, 2003 07:14 PM ET CARACAS, Venezuela, June 3 (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuelan Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega is in New York seeking financial help from banks and investors to ease a fiscal crunch facing his oil-rich country following a crippling opposition strike, officials said Tuesday.

National Budget Office director, Gen. Alfredo Pardo, told the official state news agency Venpres that Nobrega was "overseas, pursuing some public credit operations".

Pardo gave no more details but a Finance Ministry source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that Nobrega had been in New York since Monday meeting bankers and investors.

Venpres said the operations being considered by the minister could involve possible bond issues.

Nobrega has said that the government is seeking to ease a heavy concentration of debt payments this year through possible debt swaps, direct credits from banks and financing for specific projects, especially in the strategic oil sector.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is experiencing the worst recession in its recent history in the wake of a grueling strike staged in December and January by foes of leftist President Hugo Chavez.

The country is due to make debts payments totalling $960 million this month, according to official figures.

Venezuela's total external debt stands at $22.3 billion, of which $5 billion in debt payments and service falls due this year.

Nobrega has said the government wants to try to lighten the payments crunch. Internally, the government has carried out a number of domestic debt swap operations.

The opposition strike, which fizzled out in early February, disrupted oil exports, slashed government revenues and triggered heavy capital flight, forcing Chavez to introduce tight currency controls. As a result, Venezuela's economy shrank a record 29 percent in the first quarter of 2003, and unemployment and inflation have also been rising.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, June 02, 2003 By: Jose Gregorio Pineda & Jose Gabriel Angarita

VenAmCham's Jose Gregorio Pineda (chief economist) and Jose Gabriel Angarita (economist) write: The Venezuelan public's purchasing power is less every day in the new circumstances of the Venezuelan economy, burdened with restrictive measures that, far from contributing to stability, perpetuate distortions that express themselves in the form of more unemployed workers and lower real salaries for those who still have jobs with every passing month.

The Consumer Price Index for the Caracas Metropolitan Area (CPI-CMA) rose 2.3% in May. Its cumulative variation in the first five months of the year reached 13.8%, higher than the 10.54% cumulative inflation rate recorded in the January-May 2002 period. Prices rose both for controlled goods and services and for those not under control. The CPI's Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category underwent a 6.6% acceleration and there was a 7.7% general variation, reflecting previous warnings by CENDA that the standard food basket would cost substantially more in May.

This inflationary surge was provoked by the near-total restriction of the foreign exchange market, which has prevented a free flow of goods between Venezuela and the outside world and resulted in a limited supply of goods; hence, prices have risen. Another contributing factor is the continuation of inflationary expectations stemming from fiscal considerations, in view of the low volume of tax collections and the stronger pressure posed by expanding liquidity for placement of public bonds.

The annualized inflation rate (May 2003/May 2002) came to 35%, a great deal higher than the 18.32% rate for the May 2002/May 2001 period. All signs indicate that inflation will be considerably higher this year, especially in view of the inflationary impact of a possible relaxation of the exchange controls and a deregulation of prices. Some analysts are projecting an inflation rate above 50% for the year.

Reuters, 06.01.03, 11:16 AM ET  

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela's annualized inflation climbed to 35 percent in May compared with 18.3 percent a year earlier as the oil-rich nation battled a sharp recession, the Central Bank reported on Sunday.

Monthly inflation registered at 2.3 percent in May compared with 1.1 percent in the same month a year earlier and 1.7 percent in April. Accumulated inflation to May was 13.8 percent compared with 10.5 percent during the same period a year ago.

Reuters, 05.29.03, 11:33 AM ET

In Caracas story headlined "UPDATE 1-Venezuela jobless rate rose to 19.8 pct in March," please read date in dateline as May 29 instead of May 28. A corrected version follows. (Adds background on economic crisis)

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 29 (Reuters) - Venezuelan unemployment climbed to 19.8 percent in March from 15.1 percent a year earlier, the government said on Thursday, as a two-month strike drove the economy deeper into recession, The jobless rate, down slightly from 20.7 percent in February, rose from a year earlier as the economy of the world's No. 5 oil exporter contracted 29 percent in the first quarter, a spokesperson for the National Statistics Institute told Reuters by telephone.

The opposition strike against leftist President Hugo Chavez in December and January disrupted Venezuela's vital oil production and forced many companies out of business.

Some private analysts say the official unemployment rate underestimates the actual jobless figure.

The government in February introduced strict currency controls to halt capital flight and restore economic stability after the shutdown. But many analysts and private sector leaders have warned that the curbs have worsened the nation's economic crisis.

Reuters, 05.29.03, 9:13 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 28 (Reuters) - Venezuelan unemployment climbed to 19.8 percent in March compared with 15.1 percent a year earlier as a two-month strike drove the economy deeper into recession, the National Statistics Institute said on Thursday.

The jobless rate, down slightly from 20.7 percent in February, climbed as the economy of the world's No. 5 oil exporter contracted 29 percent in the first quarter of the year.