Argentina proposes $69 billion debt restructure plan

[sandensea]

Argentina has finalized a proposal to restructure some $69 billion (21%) of the country's massive public debt, the government said Tuesday, hoping to delay the maturity of some institutional loans and reduce the amount owed to private creditors.

Since taking office in December, President Alberto Fernández's administration has insisted it will not be able to pay off its creditors if its recession-hit economy fails to resume growth.

The country is struggling with inflation of over 50%, $195 billion in public foreign debt, and a poverty level that has soared to over 40% after nearly two years of economic downturn.

Last week the government said it had recruited HSBC, Lazard, and Bank of America to help with the restructuring.

Argentina's total public debt is currently $325 billion - 75% of the country's GDP - with more than $30 billion in repayments due before the end of March.

That includes a deeply unpopular $45 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiated by Fernandez's center-right predecessor Mauricio Macri in 2018.

Last month the IMF said Argentina's debt was "not sustainable" and urged the government to seek "a meaningful contribution from private creditors."

At: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/argentina-proposes-69-billion-debt-restructure-plan/ar-BB10YF4w

Argentine Economy Minister Martín Guzmán and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva during a meeting in February.

Under Georgieva, the IMF has been supportive of Argentina's recent efforts to "address the rise in poverty, stabilize the economy, and secure a sustainable and orderly resolution of the debt situation."

[Judi Lynn]

1. Is there any way it can be determined that Macri sent every dollar exactly where he said he would,

or is it possible he simply put a lot of it in the pipeline right out of Argentina into points unknown to be recovered at a later date by his band of grifter cronies? So much money, and it doesn't appear anything in the country was improved after those humongous loans from the IMF, since it was in deep crisis.

Hope it is a good sign that Kristalina Georgieva looks so much more personally involved, so much more humble, and warmer than Cristina LaGarde. She really does look like someone who would involve herself, and her honor in trying to get a positive outcome. The IMF, World Bank, etc. could use some good publicity starting immediately, considering the actual bloodshed which has followed some of their machinations with corrupt governments at the unbearable expense of the citizens.

Can Paul Singer keep involving himself in Argentina perpetually?

Very best hopes for success as the new administration tries to pull the economy out of the chasm created by Macri.

I think you can tell a lot from facial expressions, and these two people look so much more wholesome than the creatures who occupied their places during Macri, sandensea.