Argentina

Just four days after extending the expiry date on an exchange offer, Telecom Argentina has given up trying to persuade bondholders to swap existing 2021s for a combination of longer-dated bonds and cash.

With Argentina's elections days away, the fate of the country’s $56bn International Monetary Fund bailout plan will depend on the attitude taken by Alberto Fernández, the odds-on favourite to be the next president, said bondholders.

Ministers from Argentina are flying into Washington this week but with elections just days away, the fate of the country’s IMF bailout plan will depend on the attitude taken by Alberto Fernández, the odds-on favourite to be the next president.

One of the strongest credits in Argentina will seek to entice bondholders to push out maturities by turning a portion of its existing bond into cash and increasing the coupon on the remaining amount.

One of the strongest credits in Argentina will look to entice bondholders to push out maturities by turning a portion of its existing bond into cash and increasing the coupon on the remaining amount.

Crisis-hit countries that go through a painful debt restructuring programme as part of a bailout enjoy much steeper cuts in their medium-term debt, according to an independent analysis of International Monetary Fund rescue programmes.

The same capital controls that have brought some calm to Argentine bond markets could lead to the exclusion of certain government notes from some JP Morgan indices, said the US bank on Tuesday.

Argentina’s dollar bonds bounced as much as five points this week as investors were finally tempted to nibble at the distressed levels on offer. But analysts warned that the capital controls imposed by authorities would provide only short-term relief.

Moody’s said on Friday that it was placing “little weight” on the suggestion that a debt restructuring in Argentina would be voluntary. Sunday’s announcement of currency controls from the central bank showed how bad the situation had become.

Bond market participants said that Argentina’s decision to postpone the payments of some short-term Treasury bills and “re-profile” the rest of its debt was unlikely to provide a sustainable solution to the country’s financial woes.

After three further days of turmoil for Argentine bonds this week, finance minister Hernán Lacunza said after Wednesday’s market close that the government would ask bondholders to voluntarily extend debt maturities in an effort to dissipate concerns over a possible default.

Argentine sovereign bonds closed broadly flat on Tuesday as the central bank governor and new finance minister appeared to say the right things to appease markets and the IMF confirmed it would visit the country soon.