Venezuela, oil firm in ‘credit event’

Venezuela

CARACAS, November 17, 2017 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association ruled on Thursday that Venezuela and its NOC Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) have defaulted on debt and bonds, international media reported.

“[The committee] has voted that a failure-to-pay credit event has occurred in regards to Petróleos de Venezuela,” the association told Reuters. The decision would trigger payouts on credit default swaps, the report added.

The news came days after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s declared Venezuela in selective default over its failure to pay USD 200 million of coupon payments earlier in the week. On Wednesday, Russia agreed to restructure USD 3.15 billion of the country’s debt, though the figure did not include USD 6 billion owed by PDVSA to Rosneft.

Venezuela’s total public debt stands at about USD 150 billion, including USD 45 billion owed by PDVSA, the report added.

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