No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeLatin AmericaArgentinaArgentina to borrow $15 billion to pay creditors

Argentina to borrow $15 billion to pay creditors

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina aims to borrow $15 billion when it returns to debt markets so it can pay off international creditors who have sued it in a U.S. court, the government said.

The new market-friendly center-right government of Latin America’s third-biggest economy is seeking to settle a 15-year dispute over debts dating back to its 2001 default.

Its new U.S.-trained Economy Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay told reporters the government would issue $15 billion in new bonds to raise the amount it expects to pay off the creditors. That amount includes a $6.5 billion payment agreed in a deal this month between Argentina and some of the investors in the U.S. court case. The remainder of the cash raised by the bonds will be used to pay off various other creditors including bondholders who refused to join in that deal in the U.S. case.

“We estimate that we will pay $15 billion dollars” overall, Prat-Gay told reporters.

“That implies a reduction of about 40 percent in the interest” due on the original loans overall, he said.

The New York judge hearing the case brought against Argentina by the so-called “holdout” investors offered Argentina partial respite last week.

He agreed to lift an injunction that had blocked it from paying off other bondholders until it settled with the holdouts.

Argentina hopes that move will enable it to start borrowing again on capital markets so it can start clearing all its debts.

To do so, President Mauricio Macri’s government must repeal certain existing debt laws by passing reforms in a congress still dominated by his opponents.

Macri told AFP in an interview on Monday that he was confident he could gain a consensus by winning over “those who share our view that Argentina must end its conflicts, that it must come back to the world and gain access to financing.”

Since taking over as president in December from his leftist predecessor Cristina Kirchner, Macri has made it a priority to mend relations with foreign powers and investors.

Prat-Gay said the new bonds would be issued once the reforms were passed after congress reconvenes on March 1.

Argentina’s Finance Secretary Luis Caputo added: “All the banks we have spoken with are confident that we can raise the money we need on the market.”

Popular Articles

Costa Rica Grants Humanitarian Status to U.S. Deported Migrants

Approximately 200 migrants deported from the United States to Costa Rica’s Southern Zone have been granted a special humanitarian status, offering them temporary legal...

Costa Rica Faces UN Lawsuit Over Rights of Deported Migrant Children

Costa Rica faces a lawsuit before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, accused of violating the rights of 81 migrant...

Costa Rica to Host ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise Season 10

Costa Rica will serve as the filming location for the tenth season of ABC’s Bachelor in Paradise, with production scheduled to start this summer....
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait

Latest Articles