By Edilson Salgueiro
Brazilian Minister of Finance Fernando Haddad confirmed that the Brazilian government should “reschedule” Venezuela’s debt with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).
He made the statement on Monday, 29, as he left a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“We will constitute a working group to consolidate Venezuela’s debt with Brazil,” the minister revealed.
“From consolidating the numbers, we will reschedule the debt payment. Fazenda took care of that in the meeting.” Haddad also said that the renegotiation of Venezuela’s debt is an “order” from the Brazilian government.
“I came to take care of the National Treasury,” he stressed.
THE DEBT WITH BRAZIL
This month, the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, raised the possibility of Venezuela paying its debt to Brazil differently.
In an interview for the Roda Viva program of TV Cultura, Mercadante said that the government of Caracas has suggested paying off the debt by supplying electric energy and oil.
The electric energy would be explicitly distributed to Roraima, a Brazilian state on the border with Venezuela.
The oil would be passed on to the entire country.
According to BNDES, Venezuela’s current debt to the bank is US$682 million.
At current exchange rates, this amount represents more than R$3.3 billion.
In previous PT administrations, the Brazilian institution financed shipyard and subway projects in the country led by Maduro.
With information from Revista Oeste
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