Argentina

Axel Kicillof, the governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, who has an antagonistic relationship with bond investors, was forced into a volte-face on forgoing a debt payment, as Argentina’s new government seeks to maintain a good rapport with markets ahead of restructuring negotiations.

The Province of Buenos Aires agreed to make an overdue bond payment on Tuesday afternoon to dodge default by just one day, as analysts said Argentina had to avoid creditor conflict to meet a tight deadline to restructure its sovereign debt.

A group of Province of Buenos Aires creditors immediately backed the issuer after it significantly sweetened the terms on offer to bondholders in an attempt to dodge a default that could be just two days away.

The Province of Buenos Aires has given itself an extra working day to track down bondholders and persuade them to accept a delay in an amortisation payment as it seeks to avoid a hard default on its debt.

Buenos Aires Province has offered more incentives to bondholders to encourage them to accept a three-month delay of a small debt payment. The move makes the Argentine sovereign’s aim to restructure all its external debt by March 31 as ambitious.

Bankers and investors say that the Province of Buenos Aires is facing difficulties in persuading 75% of bondholders to support a two month delay in debt payments, prompting the government to offer a sweetener in the shape of advance interest payments.

A group of institutional investors owning Argentine government bonds said on Tuesday that they have hired Mens Sana — which is also advising creditors of the Province of Buenos Aires — and UBS as financial advisors ahead of a likely sovereign restructuring.

A group of institutional investors who own bonds issued by Argentina’s largest regional government, the Province of Buenos Aires, has hired advisors as analysts say a January amortisation from the issuer could be indicative of the new administration’s attitude to debt obligations.

A friendly face in the finance ministry was apparently enough to lift Argentine sovereign bonds ahead of a looming restructuring, but analysts warned that the government was still showing no willingness to implement the austerity measures that would make debt sustainable.

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.