$45B in PRC Freebies Ain't Enough: Venezuela Hits IMF

So broke he can't even spend the night: Venezuela's President Maduro.

We all have wastrel friends and relatives of no particular achievements, distinction or talents who get by through begging, borrowing or stealing money. Such is the nature of life, unfortunately. In the international community, there is a country which embodies such turpitude: It's called Venezuela. To put its senseless wastefulness into perspective, consider that it's already received $45B from China, most of which I guarantee you has already been poured down some rathole.

How do I know this? Well, unbeknownst to many, it's also been taking out its special drawing rights (SDRs) from the IMF absent any significant sources of foreign exchange these days when oil prices are comparatively low. From Agence France-Presse:

With its cash reserves in sharp decline, Venezuela withdrew $460 million from the International Monetary Fund last month in its third such operation this year. he IMF website showed Friday that Venezuela exchanged part of its Special Drawing Rights -- an international reserve asset created by the IMF -- account at the Fund for greenbacks. Some countries often buy SDRs to comply with their obligations at the IMF, and in other cases sell them for hard currency to raise their reserve level at home, the Fund said.

Venezuela depends almost exclusively on oil exports and has taken a big hit from a drop in crude prices. Its hard currency reserves have fallen 25 percent over the past year to $15.4 billion. Venezuela's three SDR-selling transactions this year at the IMF have netted it more than $2.3 billion. Until this year, Venezuela had not withdrawn assets from the IMF since 2006.

Venezuela's so broke that they have to hit up the American imperialist's lackey organization, the IMF. Pathetic...but not particularly surprising. When cash is running short, you will grab it from "friends" and "foes" alike. At this rate, the "treason" of a full-blown IMF bailout may not be too far behind.