ABN: The liquidity of the Venezuelan financial system has reaches Bs.F 192 billion ... so an increase in the public debt as result of the reformulation of the national budget will not affect Venezuela's banking, says former Finance Minister Nelson Merentes who is now head of the Social Research Group GIS XXI.

Merentes says that indicators prove that the solidity shown will allow an increase in debt as stipulated in the 2009 budget ... "after the crisis in 1994, Venezuela's financial system has consolidated, especially over the last ten years. We currently have a liquidity of Bs.F 192 billion."

Merentes says the figures are contrary to statements issued by opposition political and economist spokespersons who said that an increase in domestic debt would affect national banking and savers.  "The financial system is solid and it will continue being solid because the degree of delinquent borrowing is low. We have an economy that grows by almost 10% a year and we see that debt and other finance mechanisms are not in recession but maintaining growth in the national economy."

As president of the GIS XXI. Merentes says that in the 1990s, domestic debt had reached 60% of GDP ... but since a Bs.F 22 billion adjustment to the 2009 budget last week, it is 13% of GDP.

Domestic debt projected in the 2009 budget before the adjustment was Bs.F 12 billion and it will now be increased by Bs.F 22 billion to Bs.F 34 billion and will be achieved via government public bonds or credits.

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