The academics that make up ANCE reiterated their concern about the national situation, especially that of those who depend on the minimum wage who lost “more than 80%” of their purchasing power in one year. Unless the dimension of the State is optimized based on the diminished size of the economy, efficiency in the management of its resources is promoted, corruption is fought and credibility is recovered in economic policy and the institutions responsible for its definition. and management, it will be very difficult to restore confidence in the economy. They urge to “break with the practice of salary increases by decree, financed with improvised regressive taxes or the issuance of money without productive support”
The National Academy of Economic Sciences (ANCE) expressed his concern about “the distressing economic situation in which many Venezuelans live” as a “consequence of the inability of the current administration to adequately promote and satisfy the vital needs of the population”, and stresses that “reliable estimates lead to the conclusion that the adjustment in the minimum wage made in March 2022 would have lost more than 80% of its purchasing power by the end of February of this year”, this in the absence of official data from the Central Bank of Venezuela.
“The minimum monthly wage, equivalent to 30 dollars a year ago, today it barely exceeds 5 dollars. Such deterioration reveals really deplorable levels of remuneration for a significant part of the population, well below the minimum conditions of existence required in Venezuela today,” he points out. the statement dated March 13entitled “The National Academy of Economic Sciences before the critical level of income of the Venezuelan population”.
«Financing for economic activity is very scarce, the deterioration of public services is severe and there is a significant lag in the remunerations of state employees in relation to the rise in prices. The academics recall that this corporation acts “in accordance with its powers, as an advisory body on matters related to the management of the economy” and “expresses its willingness to contribute to the formulation and implementation of policies, actions and corrective measures.”
“Remunerations are constrained by labor productivity, extremely low in the Venezuelan economy as a result of the measures to discourage and harass productive activity applied for years by the State. But the level of remuneration suffers even more from the implementation of the anti-inflationary policy, strongly contractiveapplied in recent years.
They criticize that the government “has sought to contain monetary liquidity with the intention of stabilizing the exchange rate (…) drastically reducing bank credit and public spending.”
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«The deterioration of purchasing power is worrisome of those who depend on wages and salaries and/or fixed income in the face of the uncontrolled rise in prices. It is particularly severe for public sector employees, pensioners and retirees and those who depend on a minimum wage; all income recipients who today are at the bottom of the remuneration scale”, reflects the diagnosis of academics who attribute “the reasons for this tragedy” to “the strong contraction of Venezuelan economic activity, reduced to approximately a fourth part of that registered in 2013, accompanied by accumulated imbalances in the monetary, fiscal and exchange spheres”.
“This has also occurred in the context of greatly reduced oil production and the virtual isolation of the Venezuelan State from the main sources of international financing, given the cessation of payments by the Republic and PDVSA on their debts and obligations.”
They cite as aggravating factors for the crisis gestated by the government that “foreign income is precarious”, “the depletion of international reserves reported by the BCV” and “the total absence of information regarding the external assets of Bandes and Fonden”.
«ANCE warns that, unless the dimension of the State is optimized based on the diminished size of the economy, efficiency in the management of its resources is promoted, corruption is fought and credibility in economic policy and the institutions responsible for its definition and management, it will be very difficult to restore confidence in the economy, encourage private investment and create well-paid jobs. She is the way to break with the practice of salary increases by decree, financed with improvised regressive taxes or the monetary issue without productive supportwhich perpetuate inflationary pressures, and are not reflected in an improvement in the purchasing power of workers».
The conditions described lead ANCE to insist on the urgent need for a fundamental change in the orientation of economic dynamics, based on the restitution of the rule of law, which implies the redemption of civil and economic rights contemplated in our constitutional order. , as well as the transparency and accountability of the use of public resources, in order to restore the confidence required to promote investment and encourage productive activity.
«It should also be noted that advancing in full respect for the rule of law has been raised by those governments that have imposed sanctions on the BCV, PDVSA and other public entities, as a fundamental condition for their flexibility. This will also open the doors to the possibilities of reestablishing the Republic’s relations with multilateral financial organizations and, with this, counting on their support to reach agreements with international creditors in order to restructure the external public debt, together with the conclusion of a stabilization program and structural reforms aimed at the rapid recovery of the country.
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“Finally, the full restoration of constitutional guarantees should also offer conditions to trust in the restitution of the possibilities of alternation in the conduct of the State through electoral means, contemplated in the Fundamental Principles of our Magna Carta, the basis for the consolidation of our democracy and the conclusion of agreements for the economic and social recovery of the country”.
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