Economics
To Stave Off Default, Argentina Asks Bondholders for More Time
- Some local debt mutual funds have suspended redemptions
- Government will postpone payments on short-term local notes
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Argentina’s overseas bonds careened toward 40 cents on the dollar after President Mauricio Macri asked creditors for more time to repay them amid a growing economic crisis.
The notes reached a record low and some Argentine mutual funds suspended redemptions hours after Macri’s advisers laid out a series of desperate measures to try to lighten the debt load. They will force investors in short-term notes issued in the local market to accept longer maturities; they want foreign bondholders to “voluntarily” push out maturities; and just a year after getting an International Monetary Fund bailout, they will plead to delay repayments on the $44 billion received under the program.