VENEZUELA HAS NO PLANS TO SEEK REVISED DEBT ACCORD
Venezuela has no plans to try
to renegotiate the debt rescheduling agreement it worked out
with creditor banks in February, public finance director Jorge
Marcano told Reuters.
    Speaking here after a meeting of the 11-nation Cartagena
group, Marcano said he was aware of political pressure at home
to reduce debt payments but did not think such a move would
benefit Venezuela.
    "We have no intention of revising the terms of the accord,"
he said. "There would be little to gain and in fact it would
probably be detrimental."
    Venezuela agreed with its bank advisory committee on a 14.5
year rescheduling of 20.3 billion dlrs in public sector foreign
debt, with an interest rate 7/8 pct over Libor. The previous
agreement, reached a year before but never implemented, was for
12-1/2 years with a 1-1/8 pct spread.
    In Caracas there have recently been calls to invoke the
agreement's contingency clause which the government used last
year to amend the original terms after a 40 pct drop in oil
income.
    But Marcano said the bulk of payments to be made this year
are on private debts and non-rescheduled public debts.
    Marcano said Venezuela, which has reduced its debt by six
billion dlrs since 1983, should have no problems in repaying
restructured debt this year or next.
    Asked whether the government felt badly treated with its
7/8 pct spread when Mexico and Argentina have won a 13/16 pct
margin, Marcano said he still felt Venezuela had a good deal.
    "Venezuela has restructured its debt so that most of it is
being repaid at 7/8 pct, which I think is better than the other
countries," he said. The rescheduling accord covers some 90 pct
of Venezuela's commercial bank debt, which accounts for more
than 90 pct of the total public sector external debt.
    Venezuela has almost no debt outstanding to multilateral
agencies.
    Marcano said attempting to revise the rescheduling accord a
second time would probably hurt Venezuela's bid to restore it
credit rating and raise new loans.
    He said Venezuela now obtains trade credit lines without a
government guarantee, something that Argentina and others are
just starting to try to negotiate in their restructuring
packages.
    Venezuela is currently seeking loans in Japan and West
Germany to finance steel and aluminium expansion.
    According to finance minister Manuel Azpurua, a 100 mln
mark credit has been lined up for the Venalum aluminium plant.
    Marcano said no mandate has yet been given for a planned
100 mln dlr bond issue, although he confirmed that talks were
continuing with Morgan Guaranty and other banks.
    Banking sources said one option was to privately place the
bonds through the Caracas-based Banco de Venezuela, which would
underwrite the issue, but Marcano said no decision has yet been
made.
 REUTER
