MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina planning to remove bonds adjusted to inflation

An estimated 56 billion USD in bonds are adjusted to inflation

Argentina will seek to remove from the bonds market nearly 40% of its sovereign debt and meet all its financial obligations, Economy Minister Amado Boudou was quoted by a Buenos Aires daily on Sunday.

However Boudu did not say when or how his government would recover an estimated 56 billion US dollars in bonds that are adjusted to inflation and were issued as part of the restructuring of nearly 100 billion USD in defaulted debt.

“The issuance of those bonds was a way out opted at a certain moment, but it's a path that should not be revisited” Boudou told daily Pagina 12. “Actually, we have to backtrack from that path.”

Boudou said the government would honour its financial commitments even as revenues have been falling fall sharply due to the worldwide economic downturn.

A slowing economy has raised concerns among investors over Argentina's capacity to meet around 20 billion USD in debt payments through the end of 2010.

“We will honour our commitments. Besides, 2010 is not that demanding in terms of debt payments” Boudou said. “We will explore financing alternatives that are not those that we already know”.