page_title: Economic policy of the Nicolás Maduro administration
section_title: 2013
hierarchical_section_title: Economic policy of the Nicolás Maduro administration / Economic indicators / Business environment / 2013
caption_attribution_description: English: Average monthly car production in Venezuela
context_page_description: When elected in 2013, Nicolás Maduro continued the majority of existing economic policies of his predecessor Hugo Chávez. When entering the presidency, President Maduro's Venezuela faced a high inflation rate and large shortages of goods that was left over from the previous policies of President Chávez. These economic difficulties that Venezuela was facing were one of the main reasons of the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests. President Maduro has blamed capitalism for speculation that is driving high rates of inflation and creating widespread shortages of staples, and often said he was fighting an "economic war", calling newly enacted economic measures "economic offensives" against political opponents he and loyalists state are behind an international economic conspiracy. However, President Maduro has been criticized for only concentrating on public opinion instead of tending to the practical issues economists have warned the Venezuelan government about or creating any ideas to improve the economic situation in Venezuela such as the "economic war".
  In 2014, Venezuela's economy entered a recession with its economy contracting by 4.8%, 4.9% and 2.3% in the first three quarters.
context_section_description: The International Finance Corporation ranked Venezuela one of the lowest countries for doing business ranking it 180 of 185 countries for its Doing Business 2013 report with protecting investors and taxes being its worst rankings. In the 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index, Venezuela ranked 78 of 142 countries property rankings with governance as the worst category.
caption: Average monthly car production between 2008 and 2016
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