The Venezuelan government will make $2.5 billion...

The Venezuelan government will make $2.5 billion in foreign debt repayments due later this year contingent on the approval of new loans by international banks, the El Nacional newspaper reported. No central bank or Finance Ministry officials were immediately available for comment on the report. Finance Minister Hector Hurtado and Central Bank President Mauricio Garcia Araujo flew to the United States over the weekend for a weeklong mission aimed at persuading foreign creditors to make new loans to Venezuela, which has $30.3 billion in foreign debt. Meanwhile, Venezuelan Energy Minister Arturo Hernandez Grisanti, a key OPEC figure who was a vocal critic of Persian Gulf states’ recent oil policies, has resigned. Hernandez Grisanti, who served in the post since February, 1984, gave no reason for his resignation.