IMF urges balance in Bolivian economy

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that increasing state intervention in Bolivia’s economy is putting private investment at risk and recommended that leftist President Evo Morales’ government seek “a careful balance” to avoid a crisis.

The IMF also said it had noted “considerable uncertainty” in the energy sector about the implementation of Morales’ decree in May that nationalised Bolivia’s hydrocarbons industry.

The comments in the IMF’s annual evaluation of the Bolivian economy came just hours before Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera was scheduled to arrive in Washington for his first official visit.

Garcia Linera, whose discussions about the Morales government’s plans are to begin today, was preceded by Planning and Development Minister Carlos Villegas, who announced Bolivian development plans requiring private investment of some 5.8 billion dollars over five years.

In the report, the IMF said it “welcomed the government’s emphasis on greater equity, transparency and accountability”.