Venezuela’s cash-strapped state oil company PDVSA is reported to have made around $2.2 billion in bond payments.
President Nicolas Maduro’s government has met commitments to Wall Street investors for years by slashing imports of basic goods such as food and medicine.
This has led to chronic product shortages across the nation.
Two noteholders, who wanted to remain anonymous, are said to have confirmed reciept of recent payments.
Venezuela’s bonds are the highest-yielding of any emerging market security due to concerns about default.
Maduro has dismissed default talk as a smear campaign against his administration, and he blames the country’s problems on an “economic war” led by business leaders with the support of the US.