According to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, the IMF stated on June 25 that it is "monitoring the situation regarding the earthquake damage in Venezuela and will work with Venezuelan authorities on disaster recovery support." However, the organization did not specify the nature or scale of assistance, noting that a comprehensive assessment of the damage is still pending.
Earlier, Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, announced plans to allocate $200 million for earthquake recovery efforts. Bloomberg reported that Venezuela intends to withdraw a portion of its $4.5 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocated by the IMF to fund these recovery efforts.
SDRs are international reserve assets distributed by the IMF based on member countries' quotas. Unlike traditional bailout funds, they do not come with specific policy implementation conditions, allowing member countries to use them as a means to secure foreign currency. The IMF has not officially confirmed how the recovery funds will be sourced.
The World Bank is also in discussions with Venezuelan authorities. The organization stated, "We can coordinate with international partners for disaster response and provide technical support for damage assessment and recovery planning."
The recent actions by the IMF and World Bank follow the restoration of relations with Venezuela in April. The IMF had suspended official transactions in 2019 due to issues regarding the representation of the Venezuelan government but resumed communications in April. The World Bank also restarted its dealings with Venezuela, which had been halted since 2019, with the last loan issued in 2005.
However, the actual scale and method of support are expected to vary based on damage assessments and consultations with member countries.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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