The figure blows all forecasts out of the water. Venezuela is set to acknowledge a debt of close to 240 billion dollars, far above the 150 to 200 billion the market had been assuming until now. The report, revealed by the Financial Times, would put Caracas on course for the largest restructuring ever recorded, surpassing even Greece’s historic default in 2012.
The move comes in the wake of the country’s political upheaval. After Nicolás Maduro was captured last January, interim president Delcy Rodríguez took the reins and has set herself a clear goal: to strike a deal with creditors before the end of the year and bring Venezuela back to international markets, from which it has been shut out for almost a decade.
