[R-G] Oil Prices and Venezuela's Economy

[Anthony Fenton]

Oil Prices and Venezuela's Economy

November 2008, Mark Weisbrot and Rebecca Ray
This paper looks at Venezuela’s export revenue, imports, and trade and  
current account balances under a range of oil price outcomes for the  
next two years. It finds that Venezuela would run large current  
account surpluses for prices between $60-90 per barrel, and would even  
run a small surplus with prices at $50 per barrel. (Most oil industry  
estimates for the next two years are in the range of $80-90 per  
barrel). The authors conclude that Venezuela is unlikely to run into  
foreign exchange constraints in the foreseeable future, and can pursue  
expansionary fiscal policies to counter any economic downturn.

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela_2008_11.pdf