Argentina completed on Thursday a major, “historic” operation, according to the government, to restructure domestic debt in the country’s currency, the peso, with the aim of “unloading” the country’s public finances in the short-medium term due to the deficit. foreign currency.
The process began on Monday on a voluntary basis on debts due between June and September 2023 to transition to maturity between August 2024 and January 2025.
He received a 78 percent contribution and allowed a 7.4 billion peso ($28.9 million) deferral, according to the Economy Ministry.
Minister of State for Finance Eduardo City hailed “the largest public debt swap in the domestic market in the history of Argentina (…), given the economic significance of its impact on public accounts, and as it covers the most important dates for the second half of 2023.
Last week, the government announced the third such operation this year, which aims to “bring more predictability to the market.”
Argentina, which suffers from a chronic shortage of foreign exchange, has been worsened this year by a severe drought, the worst in nearly a century, according to authorities, which has led to a sharp decline in export earnings for the country. a country that is one of the largest exporters of agricultural products.
Latin America’s third-largest economy is also struggling to meet its fiscal deficit and foreign reserves reduction targets set by the International Monetary Fund. This is part of an agreement signed in 2022 to refinance Argentina’s $44 billion debt left over from a 2018 loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF and Argentina discussed the targets for several weeks.
And Argentina, which has inflation in excess of 100% year-on-year, is in an election year, adding to economic and financial instability overall.
Government spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti on Thursday praised the operation, which was “successful” and “significantly eased the burden of the second half of the year” and which was “followed with interest by the International Monetary Fund.”
