Economic Emergency Decree Extended in Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that the country’s economic emergency status will be prolonged for a period of 60 days. 

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Caracas, November 15th 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced that the State of Economic Emergency Decree which has been in place since January will be extended for a period of sixty days.

During his television programme “In Contact with Maduro” on Sunday, the president explained that the decree would allow him to keep “governing (against) the economic war, the crisis, to keep attending to and supporting the Local Councils for the Production and Distribution of Food, and to keep promoting investment”. 

The economic emergency decree allows the president to take direct measures to combat the crisis and mitigate its worst social effects, as well as to guarantee the population’s access to essential goods. 

“If we hadn’t had this constitutional power activated, with a (National) Assembly in contempt of court, how would I have been able to approve so many resources for the social missions, how would I have approved credits and so many other things for our people, how would I have been able to increase the national minimum wage?” stated Maduro. 

The economic emergency decree was initially declared in January but was blocked by the opposition controlled National Assembly before being upheld by the Venezuelan Supreme Court. It is the fifth time that the decree has been extended since it came into effect.