Photo: AFPVenezuela: The Trump administration on Friday slapped sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new financial deals with the government or state-run oil giant PDVSA. The sanctions Trump signed by executive order are bound to dramatically escalate tensions between Venezuela and the US and exacerbate the country’s economic crisis. But they stop short of cutting off US imports of Venezuelan oil that are crucial both to Venezuela’s economy and US oil refiners. The new economic sanctions are likely to worsen a crisis that has already seen the oil-dependent economy shrink by around 35% since 2014 — more than the US economy did during the Great Depression. Any economic sanctions, however mild, increase the risk Venezuela will default on its ballooning debt.

Source: Mint August 25, 2017 17:03 UTC