Deals and prayers in Venezuela

A bond swap has staved off the immediate threat of default, but the downward spiral continues

Venezuela's financial and political crisis continues to smoulder. Low oil prices have exposed the gutted shell of an economy left in a destructive deadlock. President Nicolás Maduro and oil chief Eulogio del Pino had been riding their hopes on an Opec agreement in Vienna. Following the deal's announcement, against which Venezuela's January production quota will be 1.972m barrels a day-compared with an October base-line of 2.067m b/d-del Pino spoke of $60-$70 oil. For a country that has seen output drop by nearly 20% since the end of 2014, it's more than just wishful thinking: times are getting desperate. The global oil price and domestic output drop has left state oil company PdV's finances