Trapped airline cash in Venezuela surges 27% to $3.3bn while GDP growth sinks

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Venezuelan importers are not the only ones struggling to cope as dollars become increasingly hard to come by. IATA last week announced that international airlines are unable to access some $3.3bn tied up in the country, as it takes the government about 12 months to convert its bolivar earnings into dollars. Some airlines have begun to suspend ticket sales in the country. Meanwhile the Venezuela Freight Transport Report 2014 estimates that GDP growth will fall to 1.5% this year while high inflation – at 45% – will continue. “Our view on the country’s freight transport sector continues to be bearish, due to concerns about lack of sustainable import demand, and slowing oil exports. In particular, the chronic mismanagement of the country’s port facilities since they were nationalised in 2009 has damaged their international reputation and their profit-making abilities,” it states.