Venezuela Welcomes IDB Back to Caracas, No Loans Yet
ECONOMY · VENEZUELA
Key Facts
- —The country Venezuela, run by acting president Delcy Rodríguez since Nicolás Maduro’s capture in January, is rebuilding ties with multilateral lenders it lost access to in 2018 and 2019.
- —What happened On Friday 2 October the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reopened its Caracas office, and Rodríguez hosted a delegation from IDB Invest, its private-sector arm.
- —The numbers IDB lending stopped in May 2018 over US$88.3 million in arrears. EFE estimates Venezuela’s total debt to the bank at about US$2.5 billion (El Diario, 2 October).
- —What it means for you Venezuelan firms may in time reach IDB Invest credit. New development lending to the state first requires the old debt to be renegotiated.
- —Still open No signed loan, amount, project or timetable has been published, and no plan to settle the arrears has been announced.
Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s acting president, hosted a delegation from IDB Invest in Caracas on Friday 2 October. The same day the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said it had reopened its country office in the capital.
It is the clearest sign yet that Washington-based lenders are returning to Venezuela. What has not returned is money: no loan, amount or project was made public.
What Rodríguez told the bank
Rodríguez received the IDB Invest team at an extraordinary session of the National Economy Council. That body brings together the economic cabinet, public and private banks, business associations and entrepreneurs.
“This meeting will allow us to have financing mechanisms for economic activity in Venezuela,” she said, according to El Nacional. She wants credit to push idle industrial capacity towards full use and to repair basic services.
She said talks on financing for the public sector were “quite advanced” but declined to give details, EFE reported. The IDB Invest delegation was led by its general manager, James Scriven.
El Nacional’s headline spoke of agreements, but its report and others describe talks, not signed deals. Calixto Ortega, vice president for the economy and finance, wants the council to turn proposals into projects, Finanzas Digital reported.
Rodríguez also claimed third-quarter growth of at least 6.5 percent despite the June earthquakes. No independent figure has been published to confirm it.
Why the IDB left, and what it is owed
The IDB was once a major lender to Venezuela. It stopped lending in May 2018 over US$88.3 million in overdue payments, EFE reported via Finanzas Digital and El Diario.
In 2019 the bank recognised an envoy named by opposition leader Juan Guaidó, freezing relations with Caracas. In June it accepted Ortega as Venezuela’s governor, formally restarting ties.
In July the IDB Group pledged at least US$1 million in grants for aid and damage assessment after the 24 June earthquakes. Rio Times reported that the earthquake recovery bill nears US$20 billion.
The larger hurdle is the debt itself. EFE puts it at about US$2.5 billion, and the bank’s rules require it to be renegotiated before development lending restarts.
What changes for business
IDB Invest lends to private companies rather than governments, so its path may be shorter than the state’s. Rodríguez also said Venezuela can again buy spare parts abroad for its power grid.
Electricity minister Rolando Alcalá said the government plans to add 1,300 megawatts before year-end, EFE reported. Analysts and opposition figures blame the grid’s fragility on a decade of disinvestment and poor maintenance.
It also follows a plan by the International Monetary Fund, reported on 22 September: Venezuela to Get an IMF Office in Caracas in 2027, Fund Chief Says.
What Is Not Yet Known
Neither the government nor the IDB has named a loan, a borrower or a sum. It is also unclear when talks on the US$2.5 billion debt will begin.
The growth figure Rodríguez cited has not been independently confirmed. How fast private firms can actually draw IDB Invest credit remains open.
Sources: El Nacional, 2 October 2026; Finanzas Digital (with EFE), 2 October 2026; Finanzas Digital (with Últimas Noticias), 2 October 2026; Finanzas Digital (with EFE), 2 October 2026; El Diario, 2 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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