CARACAS: The lifeblood of Venezuela's economy is oil, and the dollars it brings in. So with crude prices low, the government is taking desperate measures to get desperately needed hard currency.
And analysts say it is all a recipe for disaster in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves.
Venezuela's budget deficit has ballooned to tens of billions of dollars because it relies entirely on oil for its hard currency and the price of oil is half what it was not long ago.
As if that were not challenge enough for its budget, Venezuela imports about 60 percent of its food and medicine.
Yet, despite its current and potential oil wealth Venezuela is finding it increasingly hard to get trade credit with suppliers because in many cases it owes them millions of dollars.
Many economists have called it a de facto selective bankruptcy.
And suppliers not surprising increasingly don't want to lend unless they are paid in cash. Venezuela could choose to make major budget cutbacks but has chosen not do what would be massively politically unpopular.
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