Venezuela will pay in time the more than 3.5 billion dollars of debt due to pay between October and November of this year, but will do so at the expense of imports of products basic accentuating the shortage of food, medicines and other goods that the Caribbean country already

The payment of the debt of Venezuela will bring more scarcity, warns the Parliament

Venezuela will pay in time the more than 3.5 billion dollars of debt due to pay between October and November of this year, but will do so at the expense of imports of products basic accentuating the shortage of food, medicines and other goods that the Caribbean country already lives.

ECONOMY Caracas

21 Oct 2017 - 20:59 PM0 Comments 

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Caracas, Oct 21 (EFE) .- Venezuela will pay in time the more than 3.5 billion dollars of debt due to pay between October and November of this year, but will do so at the expense of imports of commodities accentuating the shortage of food, medicines and other goods that the Caribbean country already lives.

This was stated in an interview with Efe el chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee, economist and academic José Guerra, who recalls that part of the maturities that come are in the form of capital, for which there is no grace period and that the State must pay in time for not entering into suspension of payments.

"The Government will continue with the policy it had in 2016 to pay the debt by sacrificing imports, and that is the scarcity, that is the scarcity, the deficiencies that we see in the fundamental products, medicines and foods ", said the opposition deputy from his seat in the House, the The Venezuelan state, which has had a legal monopoly on the sale of foreign currency since 2002, has not been awarded since the end of August. private companies that import products, due, according to the legislator, to "everything that goes in are pushing it away" to pay off the debt.

The interruption of currency auctions - the Central Bank's rate of 3,345 bolivars the dollar - is due, according to the Government, to the financial sanctions imposed in August by the United States to the Government of Caracas for its supposedly totalitarian drift.

Administrative difficulties caused by these sanctions could be the cause of state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) being delayed this month in the payment of bonds, which as an interest have a grace period of 30 days.

The sanctions of the Trump Administration - which inter alia prohibit " negotiations on new debt and capital issued by the Venezuelan government and its state oil company "- could further hinder the country's already complicated access to new lines of international financing.

The Venezuelan government has not been able to borrow directly so far this year because it does not have the support of Parliament, which through different organs aligned with the ruling party has stripped it of its legislative and control functions since the absolute opposition majority emerged from the December elections. "Article 312 of the Constitution states that in order for there to be indebtedness, it must be approved by a law of Parliament," says Guerra, who predicts that "there will be no financing of fresh money from the financial market "if the Government continues without presenting the Law on Budget and Indebtedness before the House.

The deputy, who has behind his back a long career at the Central Bank of Venezuela, explains that "international banks and investment funds are not willing to buy a debt" that does not meet all the requirements

In this sense, Parliament has carried out an intense international effort to make this circumstance clear to potential buyers of Venezuelan debt and thus avoid a indebtedness whose purpose and conditions do not approve the opposition.

One solution to circumvent this parliamentary control required by law could have been the National Assembly Constituent set up by Chavismo, who in one of his first decisions was given the legislative powers of Parliament.

However, a large part of the international community does not recognize the legitimacy of this suprapoder.

In this situation, Venezuela has left the Russian and Chinese loans to PDVSA and other mechanisms not subject to Parliament's approval, but Guerra doubts the economic muscle of Moscow to meet the needs of Caracas, and does not see the Asian giant willing to continue contributing capital.

that next year the country must face external payments corresponding to "almost half of the oil revenue" of Venezuela, much higher than at the end of 2017, and the State should continue to sacrifice imports and "sell the gold" of reserves that have long been falling.