Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said on Friday, a day after the Fund resumed its relations with Venezuela, that the country is facing a difficult path toward economic stability.

The resumption of official communication with the Fund paves the way for the government of Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez to request assistance from the international institution.

Relations between both sides had been frozen since 2019. The World Bank also announced on Thursday that it would resume communication with the Venezuelan government.

IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva. (AFP)

However, Georgieva stated during a press conference on Friday that “the country remains in a very difficult situation” after its economy shrank by two thirds over recent years and millions of people emigrated.

She added: “Inflation has reached three digits, and moving from this situation to economic and financial stability will be a very difficult path.”

At present, the Venezuelan authorities have begun communicating with the International Monetary Fund, which in turn is in contact with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank.

Georgieva confirmed: “We are ready to send a team,” stressing the need to improve the quality of economic data in the country and strengthen its institutions.

She said: “We will most likely need to establish a financial support program for Venezuela, provided that we agree on a mechanism to move forward,” pledging that the Fund “will move very quickly.”

The recognition by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank of Rodríguez’s government opens the door for them to officially begin collecting Venezuela’s economic data as well as providing technical advice.