Regulatory/market watch

摘要

1. The Economist Intelligence Unit expects President Nicolas Madura to retain power through 2021, despite the ongoing socio-economic crisis and health emergency caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Mr Madura benefits from tight control over the military, the police and paramilitary forces as well as a decline in momentum previously enjoyed by the opposition. 2. In March 2020 the government declared a national "state of alarm" (estado de alarma), introducing local quarantines and mobility restrictions to control the coronavirus outbreak. Measures will remain in place over the short to medium term, as Venezuela's health system is simply unprepared to deal with the epidemic. 3. Venezuela's capacity to attract foreign direct investment will remain hampered by a number of factors, including declining oil output owing to mismanagement, underinvestment and international sanctions; a lack of raw material; almost no availability of foreign currency for imports; price, profit and capital controls; and a government that regularly threatens executives with jail time and seizes the assets of companies that fail to produce in the current economic climate.