Ecuador Eyes Dept Repurchase

Ecuador plans to buy back its foreign bonds due in 2012 and 2030 at a discount of at least 70% this month, according to local and wire reports citing Economy Minister Diego Borja. Borja reportedly says the government will hold a series of auctions to purchase the securities. The 2012 and 2030 bonds – which have an outstanding face value of more than $3bn – trade at 20-30 cents on the dollar following last month’s default on the 2012s, a move which fuelled speculation that the government was trying to drive down prices of its debt. Ecuador is still deciding whether to default on $650m in global 2015 bonds, on which it missed a $31m payment last month.