MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina hires Lazard, Bank of America and HSBC for debt restructuring process

Investors are preparing to face a “frustrating” restructuring, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán suggested last month

Argentina’s government said on Sunday it had hired Lazard as financial advisor and Bank of America and HSBC as debt placement agents for the debt restructuring process it hopes to close by the end of March.

In a brief statement the Finance Ministry limited itself to disclosing the names of the financial institutions that will be intermediaries for the restructuring of close to US$100 billion in public debt.

The operation is backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the talks are expected to continue from this week in Buenos Aires.

Investors are also preparing to face a “frustrating” restructuring, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán suggested last month. He intends to make a formal offer to creditors in the second week of March.

The IMF previously said that Argentina's debt burden is “unsustainable” and called on private bondholders to make a major contribution to getting the economy back on track while the government aims to renegotiate billions in sovereign debt.

The government is trying to conclude the debt talks by March 31.

Argentina, which has defaulted eight times in its two centuries of independence, received a record US$56 billion in credit from the IMF in 2018 and is seeking to reduce its foreign debt obligations again as the economy heads into its third consecutive year of contraction in 2020.