Scant Room to Appeal Ecuador Buyback

Ecuador has little margin to offer 2012 and 2030 bondholders an attractive buyback offer – expected this week – with only $1.2bn in government deposits at the central bank, UBS says. Correa has said in interviews this week that a final debt restructuring proposal for the two defaulted issues will be announced before IDB meetings this weekend, and that the government has set aside funds for a repurchase. The sovereign has stopped making payments on the bonds, of which there are $3.2bn outstanding, after a government audit found them to be illegal.