MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina successfully rolls over local bonds in Pesos

The value of the new instruments totaled 304 billion pesos (US$ 4.794 billion), the ministry said

Argentina’s economy ministry said on Thursday it had exchanged around 257 billion pesos (US$ 4 billion) in a debt swap for new instruments maturing between 2021-2024, as the government looks to restructure its debt amid a credit crunch.

The value of the new instruments totaled 304 billion pesos (US$ 4.794 billion), the ministry said.

The auction was part of Argentina’s broader drive to gain more time to make payments amid a widespread debt crisis that risks pushing the country into default.

Argentina has been focused on rolling over its local bonds through a series of debt swap auctions, but it faces a tougher challenge with its international debt. The country is racing to strike a deal with foreign creditors by the end of the month.

It is also in talks about revamping its borrowings from the International Monetary Fund, which extended a then US$ 57 billion credit facility to Argentina in 2018. It has so far disbursed around US$ 44 billion.

After one of the many meetings of IMF and Argentina officials the Fund said the Argentine debt was not sustainable and suggested private bond holders will have to reconsider the situation and possibly accept a severe haircut.