Venezuela is preparing to disclose external obligations approaching $240bn, a figure well above previous market estimates, in what would rank as the largest sovereign debt restructuring ever attempted, the Financial Times reported.

The disclosure forms part of a broader push by interim president Delcy Rodríguez to normalise relations with international investors after years of isolation. Her administration is seeking a restructuring agreement with creditors before the end of the year and has retained Centerview Partners as financial adviser to help craft a plan aimed at restoring the country's finances and reopening access to global capital markets.

The figure marks a sharp upward revision from the $150bn-$170bn range cited by analysts when Caracas first announced its intention to restructure in May, and from the roughly $170bn in liabilities cited when the government appointed Hogan Lovells as principal legal adviser earlier this month. The Central Bank of Venezuela has not published updated external debt data since 2018, leaving creditors and analysts to work largely from independent estimates until now.

Documents due for release over the coming weeks are expected to paint a bleak picture of the economy. The oil-rich country's output is projected at about $100bn, a fraction of the roughly $370bn recorded in 2012, the final full year of Hugo Chávez's presidency. On that basis, Venezuela's debt would amount to more than twice the size of its economy.

Investors are paying close attention to the methodology behind the assessment because, unlike most major sovereign workouts, it has not been prepared by the International Monetary Fund. That departure from precedent has unsettled some creditors and opposition figures, who argue that negotiations could prove harder to manage without the Fund playing its customary role.

The IMF resumed regular contact with Venezuelan authorities in April, after a seven-year rupture, though those discussions have so far centred on the production of economic data required under the Fund's articles of agreement rather than on the restructuring itself. Caracas has, for now, not requested IMF financing. The Fund has said it is not participating in the restructuring process, though it has offered to support the authorities "in this important step."

Typically, sovereign restructurings proceed under the umbrella of an IMF programme, which supplies the macroeconomic framework and an assessment of the debt relief needed to restore sustainability. Venezuela's decision to forgo that framework leaves the debt sustainability analysis to be judged on the government's own terms — a fact creditors are weighing carefully as talks approach.

The Rodriguez administration, which assumed office after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US special forces on January 3 and has since won Washington's recognition and President Donald Trump's repeated praise, blamed financial sanctions imposed from 2017 onward for Venezuela's inability to service its debt, arguing the restrictions severed the country's access to conventional financing and starved public investment in healthcare, education, electricity and infrastructure. 

Financial markets have nevertheless responded favourably to the political transition. Venezuelan bonds have gained sharply since Maduro's removal, although current prices still do not reflect years of accumulated unpaid interest.

The debt inventory extends well beyond sovereign bonds. Obligations linked to the government and state oil producer PDVSA account for about $100bn, including interest accrued since default. Additional claims include unpaid commercial debts, compensation awards arising from past expropriations — among them long-running cases brought by ConocoPhillips and Crystallex — and borrowing from foreign governments and development lenders, including bilateral loans extended by China and Russia under both Chávez and Maduro.

The complexity of the negotiations is expected to rival their scale. Creditors are weighing not only the size of potential losses but also the country's capacity to generate future revenue, with oil output central to that calculation. Export earnings reached $5.5bn in the first quarter, an improvement on the final months of Maduro's rule but still far below historical highs.

While Caracas hopes to reach a deal this year, some investors expect talks could run well into 2027. If completed, the restructuring would surpass Russia's 1998 default and Argentina's 2001 workout, until now the two largest in history.