AlQa'dah 16, 1435, Sep 11, 2014, SPA -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is reassuring foreign creditors that his government will honor its $4.5 billion foreign debt payment due next month, but as the inflation-ravaged economy weakens, economists are starting to discuss the possibility of a debt default. Maduro repeatedly has said default is not an option. On Wednesday, he reiterated that his government would pay its debt "down to the last dollar." But worries have grown in recent days after an article by a Venezuelan former planning minister and a prominent U.S. economist argued that an intentional, managed default could help the economy in the long term and ultimately benefit its citizens. Oil-exporting Venezuela is suffering from spiraling inflation and widespread shortages of basic goods, both blamed by economists on the government's interventionist policies and lavish welfare programs.
