Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez met International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in New York on September 21 to discuss the country's economic recovery agenda following the devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June.

The meeting took place as Rodríguez visited New York for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, which runs from September 22 to 28. She is scheduled to address the assembly on September 24, following speeches by Uruguay and Senegal.

Talks with the IMF centred on Venezuela's macroeconomic outlook and the use of international reserves to fund the Venezuela Rises plan, a programme aimed at post-earthquake reconstruction. Rodríguez was accompanied by Vice President for the Economy Calixto Ortega, Hydrocarbons Minister Paula Henao and Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia.

Venezuela has accessed $346mn from its own resources at the IMF to support recovery efforts, funds that will go toward housing, infrastructure and public services in earthquake-affected areas under the Venezuela Rises plan.

"These funds will allow us to support families affected by housing, infrastructure, essential public services, among other requirements," Rodríguez said, adding that she was grateful to Georgieva for her support.

"Productive exchange with Acting President Delcy Rodríguez on earthquake recovery and reconstruction in Venezuela. We welcomed progress in renewed engagement and reaffirmed the IMF's readiness to support the country through capacity development and policy advice," Georgieva wrote in a post on X.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said the funds were drawn from Venezuela's reserve tranche, a readily accessible liquidity source distinct from the roughly $4.5bn in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) that the Fund continues to hold. Venezuela is separately seeking the release of $5bn in SDRs held by the IMF.

The meeting followed a July 8 call between Rodríguez and Georgieva, during which Venezuela reiterated calls for the lifting of US sanctions and the release of blocked state assets.

The IMF plans to open a permanent office in Caracas next year, Georgieva said, according to Bloomberg, a step that would cement the global lender's deepening engagement with Venezuela.

The IMF's relations with Caracas had been frozen since March 2019, when the Fund sided with Venezuela's opposition-controlled parliament in a dispute over legitimate authority and cut off the government of then-president Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was captured by US special forces on January 3, and his vice president, Rodríguez, was elevated to the presidency on an acting basis, governing under US tutelage. Venezuela had not completed an IMF Article IV economic review since 2004 and had last settled its World Bank balance in 2007.

The IMF and World Bank in April restored relations with Rodríguez's government, ending the seven-year rupture, after canvassing members representing a majority of the Fund's voting power.

Rodríguez also held talks with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and a delegation from the Inter-American Development Bank led by its president, Ilan Goldfajn, and vice president, Everett Eissenstat, as part of the same visit. She is due to meet US President Donald Trump later on September 22.