(BNamericas.com) - "Venezuela's national development fund Fonden will receive US$6bn from oil revenues by year-end which will be used to finance 'infrastructure and electricity projects,' newspaper El Universal quoted the country's finance minister Nelson Merentes as saying.

The fund should receive its first payment of US$3bn this month from Venezuela's central bank. 'In the next few days the [bank] should disburse 50% of the foreseen amount, so that the deposit in Fonden will be US$3bn,' Merentes said.

The original idea of Fonden was for windfall oil revenue - the difference between the actual price received for oil exports and the budgeted price of US$23 a barrel - to be deposited and used to ensure the government can meet its financial obligations in case of a sudden decline in oil prices.

However, both President Hugo Chávez and central bank president Gaston Parra have publicly lobbied for Fonden to finance 'productive investments' instead of becoming merely a 'rainy day' fund. So far the only contributor to the fund has been state oil company PDVSA".