MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

De Rato points to ?means and ways'

The head of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday there were other ways to settle with Argentina's “holdout” creditors without reopening the debt exchange offer they rejected.

In an interview with Reuters, Rodrigo de Rato said Argentina must settle with all creditors holding defaulted bonds so it can gain full access to international credit markets.

"There are many technical ways to do that without opening the debt exchange," De Rato said, but declined to elaborate. "There are means and there are ways and I think it is up to Argentina to decide, and of course we will make a judgment on the decision," he added.

Argentina ended a massive US$100 billion sovereign debt restructuring in February, three years after an economic crisis and default. But creditors holding about 24 percent of the defaulted bonds worth about US$20 billion rejected the swap offer.

The IMF was criticized by representatives of the bondholders and by governments for not playing a bigger role in the negotiations between Argentina and the its creditors.

"I thought the Argentines had to settle their relationship with the creditors and I believed then and I believe now that the Argentines have to settle with all the creditors," De Rato said.

He acknowledged the debt exchange was a "substantial part" of IMF discussions with the Argentine government but said he believed it would have been a mistake to become involved in the negotiations.

"I decided it was both a mistake and unfair and I discussed that issue with my management team and the directors of the board," he said. "We believed that at the time and still believe it today, that the Argentina government was the one to negotiate with its creditors." "I did it and I'm willing to take that responsibility because I believe I did the right thing," he added.

He said the IMF had emphasized to the government that it was critical for Argentina to return to the international markets.

"We were saying you have to return to the market. We were saying that all along," he added.