Argentina’s Santa Cruz province has joined the pipeline of potential bond issuers, planning a debut cross-border security for later this year.
The province is understood to be considering a $350m bond sale, according to market sources.
Sources are divided over whether more Argentine names will turn to the market in the short-term to issue debt, with some suggesting investors are cooling on Argentine risk. Others are more bullish, with one banker saying he expected more provinces to return to bond buyers.
Despite the optimism, a banker said the provinces would need to pay higher new issue premiums because of the heavy supply in the primary markets this year.
Late last month, the province of Cordoba issued a 7.45% $510m 7.5-year note, becoming the fourth Argentine province to issue cross-border bonds this year. The notes have performed well in secondary markets, offering yields of 6.25%, approximately 100bp tighter than the sovereign, one DCM banker said.