MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Debt swap brings relief to Argentina's coffers

In this new scenario, the Government will have to face the largest maturities in July, according to analysts in Buenos Aires' financial circles

The Argentine government has successfully undertaken a debt swap in local pesos worth about US$ 16.813 billion, thus extending large maturities scheduled for the first quarter of the year, it was announced.

The Economy Ministry said in a statement that Argentina has managed to postpone 67% of its first-quarter maturities after a voluntary bond conversion which resulted in maturities totaling AR$ 4.3 trillion during the first quarter reduced to AR$ 1.41 trillion.

“The participation of banks stands out, led by Banco Santander and Banco Galicia and, to a lesser extent, Nuevo Banco de Santa Fe, Banco San Juan, and Banco Macro,” the statement read.

In this new scenario, the Government will have to face the largest maturities in July, according to analysts in Buenos Aires' financial circles.

The Ministry also explained that, during the conversion, a total of 1,079 bids were received for a basket of securities maturing between next April and February 2024.

In the first quarter of 2023, some AR$ 4.3 trillion (US$ 24.099 billion) were to mature, with AR$ 1.1 trillion (US$ 6.164 billion) in January; AR$ 1.2 trillion (US$ 6.725 billion) in February; and AR$ 2 trillion (US$ 11.208 billion) in March.

The operation in the local market consisted of the conversion of eight debt securities, including Letras and Treasury Bonds in pesos, four of them tied to the inflationary evolution, for two new baskets of instruments that include Letras maturing between April 28 and June 2023. Three Bonos de la Nación in dual currency (pesos and dollars) maturing between July 2023 and February 2024 and another inflation-linked bill to mature next June were also offered.

The Argentine government carries out debt swaps to refinance its commitments amid its lack of access to international credit and also to avoid further pressures on the exchange rate.