The International Monetary Fund has begun preparations for a possible rescue of Venezuela that could require $30bn or more in international help annually and come alongside one of the world’s most complex bond restructurings and a big test of Fund rules. The IMF has had no official relationship with Venezuela since Caracas cut off relations in 2007 and has not conducted an on-the-ground review in 13 years. Officials insist no rescue is imminent and publicly say they are simply conducting normal surveillance, stressing that they have had no meaningful contact with the government other than occasional low-level responses to requests for data. But in recent months IMF staff have quietly crunched numbers for a potential bailout that, were it to happen, could be bigger financially and more politically complex than its much-criticised involvement in Greece. “The market needs to be properly prepared for this,” said a senior IMF official. “This is going to be Argentina meets Greece in terms of complexity,” added Douglas Rediker, a former US representative at the IMF. Venezuela held elections for 23 state governorships on Sunday in which polls suggested the opposition would trounce the government amid a severe economic recession that has shrunk the economy by a third, and inflation that the IMF estimates at more than 1,000 per cent. Shortages of foreign currency have slashed imports by 80 per cent in five years, leaving the country teetering on the brink of default and suffering extreme shortages of food and medicine.