IMF monitoring Venezuela earthquake damage, pledges close cooperation with authorities

The International Monetary Fund said it is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela following a series of powerful earthquakes and pledged to work closely with Venezuelan authorities to support disaster recovery efforts.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular briefing Thursday (local time) that the fund "has been in close contact with the Venezuelan authorities and will remain closely engaged as they assess the economic impact of the earthquake and recovery needs."

However, she declined to provide specifics on the form or scale of any potential support, saying a full assessment of the damage had yet to be completed.

Earlier, Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez said the government planned to allocate $200 million from IMF resources for earthquake recovery.

The earthquake — the largest on record to hit Venezuela — is also expected to deal a major blow to the country's ongoing sovereign debt restructuring efforts. The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Venezuela's total government debt stands at $240 billion (370 trillion won), more than twice the country's gross domestic product.

Kozack said the IMF is not a direct party to Venezuela's debt restructuring negotiations but generally provides macroeconomic assessments and debt sustainability analyses, adding that the fund stands ready to support debt restructuring as needed.