United States shares closed lower on Tuesday as global stock markets stalled on niggling worries over European debt problems. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index closed down 0.34% following a turbulent day's trading, and a nearly 4% rise on Monday.
Argentine Economy Minister Amado Boudou held a meeting Tuesday with 40 international investors at the New York Palace Hotel, within the framework of his United States road show to encourage bondholders to join the Government's debt-swap.
European leaders unveiled an unprecedented loan package worth almost one trillion US dollars and a program of bond purchases in an attempt to bolster the Euro that has become highly vulnerable because of the Greek sovereign-debt crisis.
A default by Greece on its debt obligations is not and has never been an option, a spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday. A Greek “default is not on the table, has not been on the table” insisted IMF director of external relations Caroline Atkinson.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet faced down pressure for new moves to shore up the weakest Eurozone countries, but kept options open even as he said Spain and Portugal were “not Greece”.
Banks in the United Kingdom and Europe risk their credit ratings being damaged because of “contagion” from Greece's debt crisis, a ratings agency has warned. Moody's said banking systems faced “very real, common threats” if doubts were raised about their governments' abilities to pay debts. It referred specifically to UK, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish banking systems.
Given the high levels of global liquidity, Argentina should succeed in restructuring its 20 billion US dollars in defaulted bonds according to a senior official from the International Monetary Fund.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has moved to shore up the €110 billion EU/IMF rescue of Greece by offsetting the impact of the “junk” rating on the country’s debt.
The Argentine government has published the offer to swap 20 billion US dollars in defaulted bonds on specialized media around the globe and on www.argentina2010offer.com website.
Argentina filed with United States regulators the terms of its offer to swap up to 20 billion US dollars in defaulted debt, bringing the exchange a step closer to launching.