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.”

Trending Now

Compassion in Costa Rica: Tales from The Bribri and The Bridge

The book The Bribri and The Bridge: Tales from Life with the Indigenous People of Costa Rica is both a celebration and a portrait of...

Costa Rica Bill Targets Pretrial Detention for Organized Crime Cases

Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly is moving forward with a bill that aims to strengthen the rules around pretrial detention in response to growing threats...

Costa Rica Landslide Tragedy as Family Buried Alive

Heavy rains triggered a deadly landslide in Piedades Sur, San Ramón, Alajuela, late Saturday night, burying a family home and killing two adults and...

Jane Goodall dies at 91 after transforming chimpanzee science and conservation

British primatologist Jane Goodall, who transformed the study of chimpanzees and became one of the world's most revered wildlife advocates, has died at the...

Costa Rica Police Investigate Buried Body as Possible Gringo Tico

Police in Costa Rica are checking if a body dug up from a farm belongs to Daniel Francisco Vargas Salas, a 71-year-old man locals...

Heavy Rains in Costa Rica Trigger Landslides and Floods

Costa Rica faces tough conditions lately from ongoing heavy rains that have sparked deadly landslides and major flooding over the last few days. In...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica