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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Disasters & Emergencies

Venezuela to maintain external debt restructuring despite earthquake impact

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Venezuela's government will proceed with restructuring its external debt despite economic impacts from recent earthquakes.
  • Officials state the debt restructuring is crucial for accessing new funds needed for national recovery efforts.
  • The process, announced in May, includes renegotiating public external debt and that of Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), with the country's external debt exceeding $170 billion.

Venezuela's government affirmed its commitment to restructuring the nation's external debt, asserting that the process remains essential for securing funds vital to the country's recovery, even in the wake of recent earthquakes. The economic fallout from the seismic events on June 24 has not deterred this strategic financial maneuver.

During the last few weeks we have maintained intensive technical exchanges with our partners and with international financial institutions.

— Calixto OrtegaDescribing the ongoing technical discussions with international financial bodies regarding debt restructuring.

Calixto Ortega, the sector vice president for Economy, announced during a National Economic Council meeting that the administration is actively engaged in ongoing discussions with international financial institutions and other global partners. These technical exchanges, intensified in recent weeks, are designed to lay the groundwork for the next phase of the debt restructuring plan.

We expect to publish these works in the coming weeks and they will constitute a solid base for advancing in an orderly, transparent, and credible restructuring process that allows us to create the necessary fiscal space for the reconstruction of the country.

— Calixto OrtegaOutlining the expected outcome and purpose of the ongoing economic analysis and restructuring efforts.

Ortega explained that the economic analysis meticulously incorporates the consequences of the seismic emergency. The findings are intended to form a solid foundation for an orderly, transparent, and credible restructuring process. This, he stated, will create the necessary fiscal space for the country's reconstruction efforts. He emphasized that regaining access to international financing is a prerequisite for addressing the reconstruction needs.

In this sense, debt restructuring is an indispensable condition for restoring the country's access to financing.

— Calixto OrtegaHighlighting the critical role of debt restructuring in enabling Venezuela to access necessary international funding.

The debt restructuring initiative, initially announced on May 13, encompasses both the public external debt and the debt held by the state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa). According to estimates from Transparencia Venezuela, the nation's total external debt surpasses $170 billion. This reaffirmation of the strategy comes as the official toll from the earthquakes includes thousands of deaths, tens of thousands injured, and nearly 18,000 people displaced from their homes.

In parallel to the emergency response, we continue to move forward in an orderly manner on the roadmap for the debt restructuring process.

— Calixto OrtegaStating that debt restructuring efforts are proceeding concurrently with earthquake relief operations.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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