Argentina not in default, says top minister
Argentina’s economy minister yesterday declared that the Latin American country was not in default and threatened court action if any bondholders demanded their money back.
Latin America’s third largest economy failed to clinch a deal in last-minute talks with holdout creditors, leaving it unable to comply with debt payments that fell due on 30 July.
Minister Axel Kicillof said: “There is no default. There are collection problems due to a judiciary sentence. Argentina paid. The payment is done. Argentina deposited the money.”
Kicillof added that the way the negotiations had been handled were “Guinness record material”.
Meanwhile, Argentina’s markets took a hit on the default news, with the Merval index down by nearly seven per cent.
Alejo Cerwonko, emerging markets economist at UBS, said Argentina could opt for a solution organised by private groups, the government could get a waiver of the clause which prevents them from offering a better deal than they offered others, or they could return to the negotiations.