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World

Venezuela may be in default in as little as 48 hours

By Fox News
Published | Updated
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Opposition supporters hold a Venezuelan national flag in front of a burning riot security force motorcycle during clashes at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela June 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins - RTS189Z3

With two critical debt repayment deadlines rapidly approaching, analysts are sounding the alarm that Venezuela may soon be in default.

PDVSA, the distressed socialist country's state oil firm, must repay $842 million on a four-year bond on Friday and $1.12 billion on Nov. 2, according to the Financial Times. Neither payment has a grace period, meaning that nonpayment could trigger a default, and investors could demand Venezuela immediately pay back all of its debt.

While bondholders might not want a default, holders of credit-default swaps would likely request that the International Swaps and Deriviates Assocation declare a default so that they can receive payments on their contracts, Bloomberg reported.

Venezuela raised default concerns by missing large payments that were due over the weekend, totalling $237 million on two bonds, according to CNBC.

But analysts believe Venezuela may be trying to conserve all of its financial resources so that it can make the large, can't-miss payment due on Friday, CNBC reported.

A Venezuelan think-tank assuaged investors' concerns by tweeting Tuesday that the country has reserved the funds for the Friday payment.

A Tuesday report by Ecoanalitica, a research firm, stated that Venezuela made two missed interest payments and had reserved funds for the Friday payment, according to CNBC.

Still, until Venezuela makes the two major payments, experts remain concerned.

"I don't see how any person who's involved in Venezuelan debt can be anything except concerned, except for those who have credit default swaps," Russ Dallen, the managing partner at Caracas Capital Markets, told CNBC.

"This weekend, there's either going to be a lot of bond holders and traders drinking champagne, or there's going to be a lot of stressed fund managers," he added.