Colombia has contacted international lending agencies about devising a financial rescue plan worth up to $US60 billion ($A84 billion) for neighbouring Venezuela if President Nicholas Maduro leaves power, Colombia's finance minister says.
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Hyperinflation and severe recession in oil-rich Venezuela are prompting Venezuelans to flee over the border to Colombia, now about 2000 a day, Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas says.
Officials the International Monetary Fund, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank are just beginning to understand the impact of the exodus, he says.
"What happens when Maduro falls? We should not improvise. There should be a plan because Venezuela will require financial support," Cardenas said on Friday.
He estimated Venezuela would need about $US60 billion in loans under a new government and economic policies.
Australian Associated Press