Venezuela faces heavy bill as grace period lapses on loans from China

A grace period on Chinese loans to Venezuela has lapsed, according to two Venezuelan sources with knowledge of the matter, potentially depriving the cash-strapped Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nation of billions of dollars in desperately needed oil revenue this year. China eased the payment terms two years ago on some US $19 billion in oil-for-loan deals, under which Venezuela sends shipments of crude oil and fuel to pay off debt, allowing Venezuela to make interest-only payments. More…