The Venezuelan government has hired Rothschild as a financial adviser to conduct an overall assessment of its foreign debt obligations, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Rothschild is working to map what the government owes and to whom, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Debt mapping is usually a preliminary step a government takes before it begins restructuring its debt.
Representatives of Paris-based Rothschild declined to comment. A press officer at Venezuela’s finance ministry also did not respond to messages seeking comment.
According to an estimate by Francisco Rodriguez, an economics professor at the University of Denver, Venezuela owes about $154 billion to foreign lenders, including global bonds issued by the government and the state oil company that have been in default for more than six years. Interest on these bonds and court judgments for unpaid commercial loans are piling up.
Treasuries are trading at about 20 cents on the dollar, while defaulted bonds issued by Petroleos de Venezuela are changing hands at about 11 cents, according to indicative prices compiled by Bloomberg.
The debt has rallied since JPMorgan unveiled a plan in February to reweight securities in widely followed emerging-market debt indexes.
REDD Intelligence first reported that Venezuela had hired Rothschild as a consultant.
The consultancy comes amid efforts by Nicolas Maduro’s government to re-engage with global markets, multilateral institutions and credit rating agencies after years of international isolation.
The president has tried to work with creditors over the years, but talks have never progressed.
