Inside Venezuela’s $240 Billion Plan for the Biggest Debt Restructuring in History

Venezuela is preparing to confront liabilities approaching $240 billion, far above the $150 billion to $200 billion range investors previously expected. The figure would make the operation larger than Greece’s 2012 restructuring. It also reveals how years of default, unpaid interest and unresolved claims have transformed an old crisis into a historic financial test.

Markets have already reacted. Bonds that rallied on hopes of political change and stronger oil income fell to a two-month low before the debt assessment. The central question is no longer whether Venezuela needs relief, but how creditors can absorb losses without draining the resources required to rebuild the country.