The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, signed on Monday the decrees to enact the Debt Law 2012, the reform to the Medicine Practice Law, the Organic Law against Racial Discrimination, and the Law on the Rational and Efficient Use of Energy.
Agriculture, infrastructure, and energy are just some of the main governmental sectors that will see a boost in funding next year according to Venezuela’s proposed 2012 budget revealed last week by Finance and Planning Minister Jorge Giordani.
Hoping to increase social spending from last year’s 45%, legislators discussed the budget framework presented in the National Assembly Thursday, which includes an overall income and expenses of Bs 204.208 billion (US$ 47.5 billion), 28% higher than the 2010 budget of Bs 159 billion.
Venezuela’s Minister for Finances and the Economy, Alí Rodríguez Araque, presented the national budget proposal for the year 2010 on Tuesday with more than 45% of the total directed towards social spending.
After
discussing next year's budget with ministers on Friday, Venezuelan president
Hugo Chavez said they would be "prudent", and base it on a low oil price, large
social spending and an estimated economic growth of 0.5%.
Venezuela's GDP grew by 0.3% in the first quarter of this year, bringing the number of consecutive quarters of economic growth in Venezuela to twenty-two, according to the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).
A group of Venezuelan university students and administrators, opposition political party officials, and employees of the opposition television station Globovision marched to the Higher Education Ministry on Wednesday to protest the government's 6% cut in university budgets as part of an overall government spending reduction amidst the world economic crisis.
President Hugo Chavez criticized members of
his own administration as he signed the Presidential Decree to
eliminate superfluous spending, one of the measures announced last
Saturday as part of combating the effects of the financial crisis.
The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), and Venezuela's Banking Association expressed support for the revised 2009 budget, while the main chamber of commerce and opposition parties criticized the higher deficit and the lack of support for foreign investment.
