S&P SAYS VENEZUELA IN ‘SELECTIVE DEBT DEFAULT’

Standard & Poor’s declared Venezuela in “selective default” Monday, after it failed to make $200 million in payments on its global bonds, becoming the first credit ratings agency to do so. The agency said it acted after a 30-day grace period had passed on payments on two bonds. “We have lowered two issue ratings to ‘D’ (default), and we lowered the long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to ‘SD’ (selective default),” the agency said. S&P’s verdict came after the Venezuelan government met with international creditors in Caracas but offered no concrete plan for restructuring its $150 billion debt. Participants at the meeting said working groups will be formed to evaluate debt renegotiation proposals, but gave no specifics.