China loans make Venezuela’s outlook more precarious
Patience is wearing thin among both China and other trading partners
Venezuela's economic forecast continues to worsen. The government is struggling to pay back interest on loans to China—the terms of which were relaxed back in June 2016—and its dependency on oil exports to the Asian superpower have become "a question of survival", as one analyst puts it. Along with Russia, China has lent Venezuela over $77bn—including $250m the Development Bank of China approved on 5 July to increase petroleum development—but Caracas has exhausted its debtors' and expropriated investors' patience, and some have started to seek refund via the seizure of cargoes shipping PDVSA oil. Several Venezuelan oil cargoes have been seized in the Dutch Caribbean islands in the past two y
Also in this section
15 May 2025
Financial problems, lack of exploration success and political dogma cause uncertainty across much of the region
14 May 2025
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
