Posted in: 05/10/2020 – 16:10Last updated: 05/10/2020 – 16:09
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Buenos Aires (AFP)
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez confirmed that his country is still open to negotiations with international creditors and extended its offer to restructure its public debt until Monday.
The talks between Buenos Aires and its creditors have reached a dead end over its $ 65 billion debt, with the three major bond-holders rejecting the government’s restructuring proposal, which expired on Friday.
“The possibility of the offer extending continues until Monday May 11th. When this deadline expires, we will determine the steps that will be taken,” Fernandez said on Twitter on Saturday.
“We continue to engage with creditors in good faith with a view to reaching a sustainable agreement,” he added.
“As usual, our goal is to make commitments that we can fulfill,” he said.
The 30-day grace period for Argentina to make a payment of $ 500 million is due to expire on May 22 after it failed to pay it on time.
Economy Minister Martin Guzman took a firm stance on debt, partly driven by the need to free up resources to cope with the outbreak of the new Corona virus in the country in recession.
He confirmed on Saturday that Argentina was still negotiating and thanked the creditors who supported the proposal.
The Buenos Aires offer to creditors includes writing off 62 percent of the interest on debt, or $ 37.9 billion, and 5.4 percent of the capital, or $ 3.6 billion. Argentina also requests a three-year freeze, which means that no amount will be paid until 2023.
And if Argentina does not pay the money, it will mean failure to pay, which is a catastrophic scenario for the cash-strapped country, which will prevent the government from borrowing from the financial markets.
And stagnated Argentina imposed two years ago, to close to 20 March, to contain Covid 19, which was another blow to its economy.
© 2020 AFP
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