Rejected Venezuela Returns to IMF Seeking $1 Billion in Aid
Rejected Venezuela Returns to the IMF Seeking $1 Billion in Aid
(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela is returning to the International Monetary Fund with a request for $1 billion in assistance after a bigger financial rescue package was rejected by the Washington organization, according to five people familiar with the request.
Nicolas Maduro’s administration is arguing the emergency funds could be allocated through programs designed to purchase food, medicine and improve some hospitals’ infrastructure to care for coronavirus patients, three of the people said.
An IMF press official said that the fund has the deepest sympathy for the humanitarian crisis facing the Venezuelan people and referred to a Wednesday statement in response to Venezuela’s previous $5 billion request, which said that the IMF can’t consider requests from Maduro’s government because it isn’t recognized by the international community. Press officials at Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Maduro ordered a nationwide quarantine starting Tuesday to slow the pace of infection. Venezuela’s health system, depleted by a seven-year recession, is in precarious shape, suffering vast shortages of anything from antibiotics and protective equipment to soap and water. The government has reported 42 confirmed cases.
“This is a crucial moment, and knowing the aggressive and highly contagious levels of this disease, we will take quick and forcible measures to stop its propagation,” Maduro said in a letter to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva signed March 15, shared by the country’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, requesting $5 billion in aid.
The IMF said it’s ready to mobilize its $1 trillion lending capacity to help nations counter the coronavirus outbreak. Western Hemisphere Director Alejandro Werner said in a blog post on Thursday that the top priority for policy makers throughout Latin America should be to ensure that health-related spending is available to protect citizens. However, the IMF’s primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system, and it isn’t a humanitarian organization.
Venezuela’s relationship with the IMF has long been contentious. In 2007, late President Hugo Chavez pledged to cut ties with the fund, considering it a body that serves the interests of the U.S.
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