Venezuela to Offer $469 Mln of Bonds in Domestic Debt Swap

June 11 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuela plans to offer to swap tomorrow 750 billion bolivars ($469 million) of domestic debt coming due this month in an effort to push back debt payments and alleviate a cash crunch.

The government will offer new bonds that mature in between two years and three-and-a-half years with coupons between 31.8 percent and 37.8 percent, the central bank said on its Web site.

The exchange will be the eighth since November, as the government tries to stretch out debt payments to cope with a loss of about $4 billion in revenue in December and January from a strike aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez. Tax officials said last month the country's worst recession ever had cut tax collection. The economy shrank 29 percent in the first quarter.

The government is funding the deficit by tapping local markets or attempting to extend payments on local debt. Venezuela has about $22.4 billion in international debt and $7.4 billion in domestic debt.

The government swapped about $2.7 billion in domestic debt last year and another $445 million this year.