Venezuela and the World Bank

Preparing for the Future

Venezuela joined the World Bank in 1946 and received its first loan in 1961. In the 1970s the relationship changed owing to oil price increases. Venezuela repaid its outstanding World Bank obligations and loaned some of its oil profits to the World Bank to support lending to other member countries. Then, during the 1980s, oil prices collapsed, income fell, and the situation was exacerbated by poor economic policies. Consequently, in 1989 Venezuela began to borrow again from the Bank. This booklet describes the Bank's assistance in the first stages of Venezuela's adjustment and discusses areas to strengthen the Bank's collaboration with the Venezuelan government to assist it in achieving its economic and social objectives.