Weekly Report - 25 July 2013 (WR-13-29)

The government of President Nicolás Maduro is hoping to secure a loan of up to US$5bn from China within the next two weeks, the president of the state social and economic development bank (Bandes), Temir Porras, said. The loan, which will be negotiated in Caracas with the China Development Bank (CDB), would finance the Joint China-Venezuela Fund which invests in housing, infrastructure and production projects, and repays loans with shipments of oil.