Susana Cordeiro Guerra, who oversees Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, said the lender is exploring how to back Venezuela's priorities if conditions permit, with any package needing executive board approval. The potential support would target reforms and key investments in infrastructure and social sectors.
She said the bank has lined up an initial $500 million operation focused on water and electricity. Financing in the first year could total as much as $2 billion, contingent on Venezuela resolving arrears with other multilateral lenders. "We have developed a pipeline of projects that we can provide financing to, that we are comfortable with, that we would like to move forward, and we are waiting for the arrear settlement to be able to move forward," she said. She spoke on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.
The World Bank last extended a loan to Venezuela in 2005. Since then, the country has accumulated arrears - among them more than $2 billion in unpaid principal and interest owed to the Inter-American Development Bank - and it remains behind on obligations to the Development Bank of Latin America.
The World Bank and IMF rekindled engagement with Venezuela in April, during the period when Delcy Rodríguez was serving as acting president. The bank says it is working intensively on the country's macro fiscal framework and supporting debt restructuring that some private estimates peg at around $170 billion. The institution plans to appoint a resident representative in the near term and to establish a Caracas office before the year ends.
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Cordeiro Guerra said activity in Latin America has picked up alongside market-friendly governments aligned with US President Donald Trump. In Colombia, following President Abelardo de la Espriella's August swearing-in, the bank is putting together three loans - amounts not disclosed - targeted at improving spending efficiency and supporting the energy and health sectors.
Some mirror the arrangement the bank approved for Argentina in June, under which the country obtained a commercial loan of up to $2 billion with a 95% World Bank guarantee. Talks are also underway for additional lending to Argentina next year. "We are definitely in discussions and will support the government in their liquidity needs at different points in time in a strategic way throughout the year," she said. In Barbados, they are preparing a similar instrument to support payment regulation and digital government payments.
"We want to reward the reformers," she said, pointing to Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama as pursuing private sector friendly reforms and growing above 4% annually through fiscal consolidation and macro stability.
The World Bank's path into Venezuela hinges on arrears clearance and board approval, but a concrete starting point - a $500 million water and power project - is already scoped. The bank is also moving to be on the ground in Caracas while it helps map a fiscal framework and backs debt restructuring. The near term tell: watch for arrears resolution, then track how quickly that pipeline turns into signed projects and what that signals for contractors, utilities, and bond negotiations across the region.
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