Category: Argentina

Argentina plans to issue $500 million in dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2012 today as part of its 2005 debt program. If demand is high the issue might be increased by another $50 million. On July 18 Argentina sold $442 million in US dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2012, the country´s first bond issue in US dollars after its debt restructuring of some $100 billion completed last May.

Argentine President Nestor Kirchner pledged to pay back $14 billion owed to the International Monetary Fund to free the country from policies mandated by the lender. Argentina’s government in May asked the IMF permission to defer payments on loans for a third time since 2001 to help the country free up funds needed to pay bondholders that accepted the restructuring of more than $100 billion of defaulted debt. The Fund is pressuring the Kirchner administration to increase its primary surplus and negotiate with holdout investors who refused to take part in this year´s debt swap.

to join discussions at LatinFinance’s Cumbre Financiera Argentina in Buenos Aires, 27 – 28 July 2005. Apply for your invitation today at www.latinfinance.com/argentina

Pilots and technicians at Aerolineas Argentinas went on strike Tuesday, paralyzing flights at Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires. Union leaders, which said the strike would last 12 hours, are demanding a salary increase of 40 percent. Aerolineas Argentinas, Argentina´s largest airline, is owed by Spanish travel group Marsans.

Argentina has said it will halt sales of index–linked government bonds on local markets as inflation picks up. Annual inflation doubled to 9% in June. Officials say they are worried the bonds could fuel inflation expectations. In future, the government will issue fixed-rate dollar-denominated bonds. Last week, the government sold $442 million in bonds in the local capital markets in its first sale of dollar bonds since its 2001 default.

to join discussions at LatinFinance’s Cumbre Financiera Argentina in Buenos Aires, 27 – 28 July 2005. Apply for your invitation today at www.latinfinance.com/argentina

As Argentine and IMF officials met in Washington to discuss a possible refinancing of Argentina´s $12 billion debt to the Fund, IMF director Rodrigo Rato said Argentina must find a solution for bondholders that did not participate in the county´s debt swap. In February 76 percent of investors holding defaulted Argentine debt agreed to a swap for new bonds. A defiant President Nestor Kirchner said Argentina “won’t cede anything.”

to join discussions at LatinFinance’s Cumbre Financiera Argentina in Buenos Aires, 27 – 28 July 2005. Apply for your invitation today at www.latinfinance.com/argentina

to join discussions at LatinFinance’s Cumbre Financiera Argentina in Buenos Aires, 27 – 28 July 2005. Apply for your invitation today at www.latinfinance.com/argentina

Argentina´s Finance Secretary Guillermo Nielsen began negotiations with the IMF Wednesday with the hope of reaching a new loan accord. The country currently owes the Fund about $10 billion. The IMF, to the chagrin of President Kirchner, has demanded Argentina´s primary fiscal surplus stand at 4.5 percent of GDP, above its current rate of about 3.2 percent. Argentina recently completed a swap with investors in which it exchanged about $100 billion in defaulted debt for new bonds.