Argentina

Salta became the latest Argentine province to wrap up a debt restructuring on Monday after almost all its bondholders agreed to participate in a consent solicitation that will see the maturity on its July 2024s pushed out to December 2027.

Amid increasing concern that Argentina might delay a new IMF agreement until after mid-term elections in October, one of the creditor groups that negotiated last year’s sovereign debt restructuring issued a plea to the government to turn its economic policy around.

Argentina’s sovereign bonds endured a rough ride in the past week as investors and analysts worry that the government may not be as keen as it appears to reach a new agreement with the IMF by May, its previously outlined deadline.

Entre Ríos, the only Argentine province to have faced legal proceedings as a result of the past year’s wave of bond defaults, looks set to avoid a legal battle after reaching a restructuring agreement with the creditors that had pursued it in a US court.

Argentine oil and gas company YPF will avoid a hard default after the country’s central bank, the Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) agreed to provide the issuer with sufficient dollars not just to complete a bond swap, but also to make a maturity payment on March 23 to creditors that did not participate in the company's recent debt exchange.

Argentine oil and gas company YPF amended its proposed bond exchange for the fourth time on Sunday evening, again upping the cash payment for holders of its March 2021s in a move that the issuer says has the support of the most stubborn group of bondholders.

Bonds issued by Argentine oil and gas company YPF were up and down this week before ending largely flat as the company failed to find a consensus among investors regarding its proposed exchange offer. A March 23 maturity payment looms large.

A set of investors owning more than 45% of a YPF bond maturing next month say they will not support the Argentine oil and gas company’s attempt to swap the notes for a combination of new senior secured bonds due in 2026 and cash — even after the issuer improved the offer on Monday. However, emboldened by the public support of a separate bondholder group, YPF responded late on Tuesday that investors should participate in the deal “with a view to contributing to the preservation of their investments”.

Argentine government-owned oil and gas company YPF again sweetened the terms of an exchange for its 2021 bonds on Monday, increasing the cash portion of the swap in an effort to persuade creditors to switch into longer dated notes and thus avoid the risk of default.

The Argentine province of Salta will in the coming days launch a restructuring offer that already has the buy-in of 40% of its creditors. Yet Buenos Aires, the country’s largest sub-sovereign issuer, is testing bondholders' patience after nine months in default.

Argentine oil and gas company YPF triggered a rally in its bonds this week by improving the terms of a proposed debt exchange that bondholders had initially rejected. Yet if the amendment was a sign of pragmatism from the government owned issuer, investors hardly saw it a reason for cheer, and yet another government related default is still on the cards.

Argentine oil and gas company YPF’s bonds rallied on Tuesday as markets acknowledged several improvements to terms on the company’s attempt to exchange all of its $6.228bn international bonds for new notes. But analysts were still undecided as to whether the amended offer would be enough for YPF to meet the necessary acceptance thresholds.