Like Greece, only riskier
This should be no sweat, right? After all, as we have been repeatedly told by "experts", Venezuela has a large piggy bank.
Well, Veneconomy begs to differ, and so does Victor Salmeron at El Universal. Apparently, the government doesn’t really know where they are going to get the money from. Firms such as Barclay’s don’t really know either, claiming that the only way to pay its debt is … incurring more debt.
On top of it, just today, the ECLAC is confirming that, in 2008, with sky-high oil prices, Venezuela somehow managed to engineer a budget deficit of 1.2% of GDP.
The evidence is clear: Venezuela did not save as much as its defenders claim it did.
Could this be the reason why Venezuela is listed as the country with the greatest probability of debt default, worse than Greece, even? Are the $11 billion in payments that are due this year and next in jeopardy?
We’ll soon find out.
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