Venezuela to sell shares in CAF development bank to pay debt
Venezuela will sell some of its shares in the CAF Latin American development bank to pay down its debt with the lender.
The sale was approved at a meeting of the CAF’s board in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, said two opposition lawmakers and a member of a committee named by the opposition to restructure the country’s debt, who warned that the move would jeopardize the crisis-stricken nation’s economic recovery.
In December, Venezuela failed to pay the CAF some $400 million in outstanding debt, prompting rating agencies to downgrade the lender. The OPEC country has been behind on its debt to the Caracas-based CAF since 2017, but the lender rolled over the debt twice.
Angel Alvarado, an opposition lawmaker who serves on the National Assembly’s finance committee and published the resolution on Twitter, said the CAF approved the measure under a program for “exceptional situations” that allows countries to sell shares if there is a payment delay of more than 60 days.
