CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela inflation was 48% annually in 2024, the lowest in 12 years, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told lawmakers in an annual address to the national assembly and other officials on Wednesday, just days after he was inaugurated for a third term.

Maduro, whose nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis and mass migration, was sworn in for a third term on Friday, despite a six-month-long election dispute and international calls for him to stand aside.

The government has employed orthodox methods to try to tamp down inflation, which has reached triple digits in recent years, with some success. Inflation was 189.8% in 2023, according to the central bank. Maduro said this month that the economy grew 9% last year.