Venezuela is in far greater debt than previously believed, but the US-imposed regime change may provide the opportunity to restructure.
The socialist-led country’s GDP has collapsed from $370 billion in 2012 to around $100 billion today. Caracas is expected to reveal a debt pile of $240 billion in the coming weeks, the Financial Times reported, compared to previous estimates of $150-$200 billion.
It will offer creditors partial repayment in the largest-ever debt restructuring, eclipsing Greece’s $200 billion 2012 default, made more complex because Venezuela has so many creditors and the IMF will not be involved. Such an agreement was impossible before President Nicolás Maduro’s removal in January and the subsequent lifting of sanctions on Venezuelan dollar transactions.