Venezuela needs credit to cope with oil price drop -Maduro

Venezuelan bond yields remain the highest among emerging markets, with spreads over comparable U.S. Treasuries at 2,072 basis points. That compares, for example, with 1,517 for conflict-torn Ukraine. Economists recommend Venezuela enact reforms like a currency devaluation or rise in domestic gasoline prices, but Maduro appears to be balking at such measures which could worsen already high-inflation and cause a social backlash. Short-term financing options include rolling back generous Chavez-era oil subsidies under its regional Petrocaribe program, more loans from ally China, or selling assets of its Citgo refining unit in the United States. "The strategy appears as mostly a piecemeal approach and focused on one-off sources of financing as opposed to a solution to the oil price shock," said Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America strategy at Jefferies in New York. More…