South America

Argentina has earned its first positive rating action since the triple upgrade that followed its emergence from default last year, as Moody’s placed the sovereign’s B3 rating on positive outlook on Monday evening.

Argentine real estate company Raghsa is meeting international investors ahead of a planned $150m issue of senior unsecured notes due 2024.

Latin American new issue markets enjoyed a quiet week with as carnival celebrations replaced the debt party with which the region started the year, but Brazilian issuers look ready for a swift return to market mode.

Lat Am bond investors are keeping a close eye on Venezuelan state-owned oil giant PDVSA in the run-up to the company’s next amortisation payment in April, with the source of funds used for the payment set to provide important clues as to the likelihood of default.

Landlocked South American sovereign Paraguay is likely to return to international bond markets early this month after nominating Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citi to run its next debt sale.

Economists at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said on Monday that they believed Venezuela was “rapidly approaching breaking point”, despite movements in the short end of the country’s curve suggesting investors are less pessimistic.

Argentina’s third largest private sector lender Banco Macro is considering selling up to $300m of New York law peso-linked notes, following in the steps of fellow banks Supervielle and Hipotecario.

The government of Belize has extended the deadline for a consent solicitation designed to ease its debt burden for the fourth time, but has again failed to offer bondholders a better deal.

The province of Córdoba sold a five times oversubscribed 7.5 year bond on Wednesday to suggest that plenty of appetite for Argentine paper remained — even if it is growing ever more picky about credit quality.

Central Argentine province Córdoba sold $510m of 7.5 year bonds on Wednesday, using proceeds to refinance existing bonds and significantly lower its funding costs.

Argentine province Córdoba is set to continue the seemingly never ending run of sub-sovereign issuance from Latin America’s third largest economy as it sought seven year money on Wednesday.

Argentine credit card company Tarjeta Naranja will look to issue international bonds for the first time after approving a bond sale of up to $300m.