The world's fifth largest oil exporter, Venezuela has benefited recently from soaring crude prices and increased public spending by leftist President Hugo Chavez who this month won a recall referendum on his rule.
Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega told state television in an interview late Sunday the government expects inflation to slide further in 2005 from around 20 percent this year.
"Next year, we have a plan that seeks to bring it down a notch further, to between 15 or 18 (percent), those are the numbers we are working with," Nobrega said.
Venezuela's government has forecast economic growth of around 10 percent this year and between 3 to 5 percent next year. This year's budget foresaw 2004 inflation at around 26 percent, but 12-month inflation in July slowed to 21.8 percent from 31.9 percent a year earlier.