Argentine bond prices fell on Thursday and the country risk soared to levels not seen since 2005 after the government announced plans to extend maturities on an estimated US$ 100bn in debt, raising fear of a full-blown financial crisis.
Argentine shares and bonds plunged on Thursday as investors reacted to the failed negotiations between Argentina and the holdout hedge funds in New York. At the Buenos Aires City stock market the Merval index closed down by 8.4% to 8,187.99 points, far from yesterday’s record 6.9% climb.
Argentine Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino ratified Wednesday’s down payment of the “Bonar X” dollar-bond for 200 million dollars and blasted credit rating agencies which along with speculators “set terrorist reports in order to make some profit out of it.”