[ti:Venezuela's Economic Problems Will Grow, IMF Predicts] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.72]The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says people in Venezuela [00:08.16]are likely to experience economic hardship in 2017. [00:15.48]Venezuelans are already experiencing severe shortages of food [00:21.96]and other goods because of the country's economic crisis. [00:28.08]Venezuela is "on a path to hyperinflation," wrote Alejandro Werner, [00:36.68]the IMF's director for the Western Hemisphere. [00:42.32]He expects inflation levels to keep rising, [00:46.76]while economic activity shrinks. [00:50.96]Werner made the comments in the organization's latest predictions [00:56.31]on Latin America and the Caribbean. [01:00.28]Venezuela's problems are partly to blame on a large and growing budget deficit, [01:08.44]economic distortions, and a severe restriction [01:13.24]on the availability of imports of some goods, he wrote. [01:19.26]His comments appeared Monday on an IMF website. [01:25.60]This week, President Nicol¨¢s Maduro [01:29.72]appointed economist Ricardo Sanguino to lead the country's Central Bank. [01:38.52]Sanguino is a political ally of Maduro and a member of the ruling United Socialist Party. [01:48.32]He replaces Nelson Merentes, who resigned last Friday. [01:55.08]Merentes had the support of investors until he supervised an expansion of the money supply [02:03.48]that helped fuel inflation to a reported 800% last year. [02:10.84]That information comes from Reuters news agency. [02:17.20]Economist Jesus Casique told VOA [02:22.24]it is hard to measure the exact rate of inflation or economic shrinkage [02:29.08]because the central bank does not publicize the numbers. [02:34.28]He suggested that, by keeping such information secret, [02:40.32]"the Central Bank of Venezuela has been repeatedly violating the constitution of the republic." [02:49.80]Venezuela's extensive oil supply made it the richest Latin American nation in the 1970s. [03:00.04]But with the 2014 collapse of oil prices, [03:05.00]costs for goods and services have risen, along with crime. [03:11.56]Last month, the Associated Press (AP) found evidence that Venezuela's military [03:19.92]was profiting by seizing and reselling rice and other foods at high prices. [03:28.84]Maduro had given the military the responsibility of food distribution. [03:36.56]Several members of the United States Congress are calling for U.S. sanctions [03:43.20]against those who sell food illegally, including Venezuelan officials, the AP reported. [03:52.92]Opponents of Maduro's administration demonstrated in Caracas on Monday. [04:00.64]The demonstrators were demanding local elections [04:05.08]and a nationwide vote on Maduro's leadership. [04:09.96]His supporters also organized marches. [04:14.32]The protest was held on the anniversary of Venezuelan dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez' [04:24.16]removal and a return to democracy in 1958. [04:30.08]I'm Alice Bryant.