He International Monetary Fund (IMF) will resume incorporating official data provided by the Venezuelan authorities in the preparation of its growth and inflation projections, confirmed sources linked to the organization.
The measure, which will be reflected in the next edition of the World Economic Outlook report scheduled for this October 13, ends a long period of exclusive dependence on independent technical estimates.
The institutional change responds to the deepening of high-level contacts formally reestablished in April between the multilateral and the administration of the president in charge Delcy Rodriguez.
The outreach included a visit to Caracas by a high-ranking envoy in July—the first in more than 20 years—followed by a technical mission that concluded in early September to assess economic conditions and the national statistical system.
The exchange of information coincides with the sovereign debt restructuring process promoted by the White House – the main shareholder of the IMF— and contemplates the opening of a permanent representative office of the organization in Caracas scheduled for next year.
“The combined use of official statistics and own projections constitutes a crucial step towards a formal evaluation under Article IV, a periodic consultation mechanism interrupted since 2004,” indicated sources linked to the international negotiation.
The IMF’s technical easing occurs after the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) In March, it resumed the periodic disclosure of the consumer price index (INPC) and other macroeconomic aggregates, after more than a year of statistical opacity.
During hyperinflation cycles, the lack of homogeneous figures forced the entity to treat the country’s indicators with extreme caution.
Although the Venezuelan authorities have not formalized requests for direct financial assistance, the validation of their data by the multilateral is decisive for the setting of risk premiums, the formulation of the nation’s budget and the attraction of capital in the economic opening.
