Venezuela’s External Liabilities Put at $240 Billion as Debt Restructuring Advances

Overview

• Financial reporting published on Wednesday showed Venezuela may disclose about $240 billion in external liabilities, a figure well above prior market estimates.
• Caracas has hired Centerview Partners to produce a debt-sustainability plan that the government says will be published in early July and followed by a formal update to creditors.
• The reported total would include roughly $60 billion in defaulted government and PDVSA bonds, about $40 billion in unpaid interest, $30–50 billion owed to oil and commercial creditors, and more than $20 billion in arbitration awards.
• Creditor exposure is diverse and includes bilateral loans from China (estimated $10–20 billion), Russia (about $6 billion), and roughly $4 billion to multilateral or development banks, complicating talks.
• Venezuela has not made external debt payments since 2017, and interim leader Delcy Rodríguez is seeking a creditors’ agreement in 2026 to restore market access, which could affect public spending and foreign investment if terms require deep cuts or long restructurings.