During the session of the National Economic Council held this Monday, the sectoral vice president of Economy and president of the Bank of Venezuela, Calixto OrtegaHe offered an assessment of the country's financial and industrial status following the recent seismic events that occurred in the country on June 24.
“Assessments conducted over the past few weeks show that Venezuela’s productive apparatus has demonstrated greater resilience than initially anticipated. In particular, the oil sector and the national productive apparatus have remained essentially intact and continue to operate normally,” Ortega emphasized.
According to the official report, the critical damage is concentrated in service networks and road connectivity, "more than in the country's productive capacity. Venezuela retains the means to produce, to export, and to sustain its recovery," it emphasized.
In his remarks, the Vice President for Economic Affairs highlighted three priorities for reconstruction and outlined the roadmap that will guide the economic cabinet in the short and medium term, structured under three axes of immediate action:
- The first is to mobilize the support of international partnersOrtega highlighted significant progress in the technical working groups with global organizations. According to the official, "The dialogue with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, CAF, and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as other strategic partners, is now ongoing, constructive, and focused on concrete results," he said.
- The second priority is to inform the economic and financial community. “Information is fundamental,” he said, adding that the government is quantifying the damage in real time with multilateral partners to generate precise metrics on the macroeconomic impact. “We are doing this daily, analytically documenting the consequences of the earthquakes, responding to these humanitarian consequences, and protecting the health and safety of our people with all available means,” he said.
- Debt Restructuring: It was confirmed that the process of restructuring sovereign debt obligations is still underway. "Debt restructuring is an essential condition for restoring the country's access to financing," Ortega stated, adding that the ultimate goal is "to create the necessary fiscal space for the country's reconstruction."
The National Economic Council confirmed that it will maintain dialogue with various trade associations and business chambers in order to expedite urban contingency plans and ensure the continuity of commercial recovery.
