Venezuela remains besides the aid of the multilateral ones

Dominique Strauss-Khan, president of the International Monetary Fund Internacional, has indicated its preoccupation by the performance of the world-wide economy (File)

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After years of little relevance the multilateral organisms like the International Monetary Fund (the IMF), that renders to countries to resolve currency shortage; or the Inter-American Development Bank (I.A.D.B.), the World Bank and Andinianc $foment Corporation (Caf), that finances investment projects, recover importance of the hand of the global crisis.

The countries of Latin America, determine their glance to the lines of credit of the IMF upgraded in power that has tripled its resources, from 250 billions of dollars to 750 billions and the group that conform the I.A.D.B., the Caf and dependent institutions of the World Bank, which they have 90 billions of dollars to help the region to surpass the fall of the exports, the drought in the financing and the decrease of the foreign investment.

Only the IMF has signed an agreement with Mexico, under the initiative that denominates Line of Flexible Credit, by 47 billions of dollars; Colombia, transacts a payment of 10 thousand 400 million dollars; Guatemala signed a treatment by 935 million dollars and El Salvador another one by 800 million dollars.

Ferocious critic of the multilateral ones, to consider that the conditions that they have demanded in the past guaranteeing his credits only have served to increase the instability, Hugo Chavez has not doubted in declaring the war to them.

“I need to us to be traveling to Washington neither to the Monetary Bottom nor to the World Bank nor nothing (...) I want to formalize the exit of Venezuela of the World Bank, of the International Monetary Fund and of all that”, Hugo Chavez first of May of 2007 roared, leaving in clear a disposition that although not yet it has formalized, decreed the divorce.

The 26 of November of the 2008, president of Venezuela returned to the load and accused the Inter-American Development Bank of to have turned “into a mechanism of the empire (the United States)”, and it indicated for being a “instrument to it of political pressure to put conditions”.

At the same time, he indicated that Andinianc $foment Corporation, whose soothes is in Caracas, “would be necessary to close it”.

New policies
Traditionally to obtain credits of the International Monetary Fund the countries had to be put under a series of exigencies that were translated in austerity and hard times. The nations went to the IMF under strong imbalances and in exchange for the packages of aid they had to adopt measures as it trims of the public cost, increase of the interest rates and reduces in the subsidies, exactly the measures that politicians as Hugo Chavez adversan.

Despite the times they have changed. In the meeting of the International Labour Convention in Geneva, at the end of March of this year, the president of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, one was worried because the world-wide economy undergoes a greater impact if “the fiscal stimulus is not implemented sufficiently”.

Atish Ghosh and other four economists of the IMF, in a dated work the 23 of April, Coping with the crisis: policy options for emerging market countries, moves away of the rule of the lifted interest rates and the new policies for credits contemplate “to modernize conditionality”, “duplication of the limits of access to the financing”, “it reforms of the services for the countries of low entrance” and “to simplify the fan of financial services”.

Under pressure
Venezuela to diminish the tension with the multilateral organisms could be beneficial at moments at which the fall of the prices of petroleum strikes the public accounts. The administration of Hugo Chavez has been itself forced to reduce in 35% the currency delivery for imports, to fit to the loss the public cost, to increase the IVA and to resort to a massive plan of indebtedness.

In fact, the package of adjustment in the country marches to crosscurrent with the one the main economies of the region, where to alleviate the recession reductions of taxes and increase of the public cost are implemented.

vsalmeron@eluniversal.com

Victor Salmerón