Venezuela’s economy contracted 19.2% in the first nine months of 2018 from the year-earlier period, as private consumption fell sharply and inflation soared in the crisis-racked nation, according to the Central Bank of Venezuela. The economic statistics, usually a closely guarded secret by Venezuela’s authoritarian regime, were published on the central bank’s website on Tuesday. The last time the central bank published economic statistics was for 2015.

Source: Wall Street Journal May 29, 2019 02:48 UTC