REUTERS/ E. Chinea
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Central bank president Nelson Merentes ( pictured) insists Venezuela will not default on its foreign debts and investors should continue to buy bonds.
Merentes said that when Venezuela faced a months-long oil strike that crippled its economy in 2002...it still met its obligations.
In February, Capital Economics predicted that default was probable before Chavez's re-election campaign in December 2012.
Because of high yields...as much as 16 %...Venezuela's bonds and those of its oil company PDVSA are some of the world's most traded usd bonds.
In the past year, Venezuela and PDVSA issued almost $14 billion in usd debt, most of it ($11 Bn) for PDVSA.