The Bank of Spain and the Central Bank of Venezuela signed a memorandum of understanding during the annual IMF meetings in Bangkok. The agreement defines a framework, still without a closed information exchange programme.
According to information from ecosistemastartup.com, the Bank of Spain (BdE) and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) signed a memorandum of understanding last week during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group held in Bangkok, Thailand. The document serves to define a cooperation action plan on the official statistics of the central banks.
Sources from the Bank of Spain specified that the memorandum does not itself establish a closed information exchange programme. It is a framework to structure future initiatives, the scope of which will be determined in coordination between the two institutions. The bank also did not confirm specific commitments regarding inflation series, monetary policy or balance of payments.
From the Venezuelan side, the BCV indicated that both institutions reviewed the priority areas for cooperation, the applicable methodological standards, and the conditions for receiving technical assistance. The plan will take into account other initiatives that the BCV is developing with international organizations to avoid duplications.
The Bank of Spain clarified that the agreement does not imply a commitment to financial assistance or support for the Venezuelan government's economic policy decisions. Its scope is limited to cooperation between the two central banks, within their competencies.
According to the information, the BCV resumed in March the periodic publication of the consumer price index (INPC) and other macroeconomic aggregates, after more than a year without disseminating them. The IMF will again incorporate Venezuelan official data into its growth and inflation projections, according to a change that would be reflected in the October edition of its World Economic Outlook report.
The technical cooperation contemplated includes possible lines in innovation, artificial intelligence and data management through DELTA, the Department of Experimentation and Laboratory of Applied Technologies of the Bank of Spain, based in Barcelona. Its director, Ignasi Belda, describes this type of pilot project as a way to automate processes that previously required several days of work.
For companies operating in Venezuela or trading with local counterparts, the regular publication of official data allows for contrasting forecasts of prices, financial costs, and exchange rates without relying solely on private estimates.
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