Argentina Debt Score Cut by Fitch on Public-Sector Swap Plan
- Nation’s rating lowered to C as Fitch sees ‘imminent’ default
- Fitch says public-sector swaps are coercive debt operations
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Argentina’s credit score was slashed by Fitch Ratings to the lowest above default as the government plans to force state-owned institutions to unload their holdings of dollar bonds.
The nation was downgraded by two notches to C from CCC- by Fitch, according to a Friday statement. The debt swap, announced in an official government decree on Thursday, would involve unilateral exchanges and forced currency conversions that qualify as a default under Fitch’s criteria.