VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS REFINANCING ACCORD president jaime lusinchi defended the 20.3 billion dlr debt rescheduling accord his government recently signed, saying it will open new credit flows and bring needed foreign investment to venezuela. In his annual state of the nation speech, lusinchi also said venezuela supports other latin american debtors, despite having reached a rescheduling accord on its own. In the 90-minute speech to the congress, lusinchi summed up the achievements of his administration, which took office in february 1984. He pointed to the 3.3 pct growth in non-oil gdp in 1986 and to a "moderate" 12 pct inflation rate. Lusinchi said the 20.3 billion dlr debt rescheduling signed feb. 27 put an end to a process which had been 'the calvary of our nation over the post four years.' In the refinancing accord, he said, venezuela managed to achieve 'the most inmportant thing, which is the reopening of financial flows from abroad, essential for the financing of development and the (financing) of trade and investment.' Once all the details of the agreement are finalized, he said, venezuela will seek new financing for the imported components of new development projects. "our intention is not to continue being net exporters of capital, but to protect our balance of payments with a flow of capital towards venezuela," he said. Under the agreement signed february 27, venezuela extended payments on the debt from 12 to 14 years, while the interest rate was lowered from 1 y 1/8 to 7/8 of a pct over libor. At the same time, payments over the next three years were lowered from 3.450 to 1.350 billion dlrs. Lusinchi defended the rescheduling accord against critics who said it merely deferred the weight of payments to future governments.