RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Standard & Poor’s raised Argentina’s long-term foreign currency rating to ‘CC’ from ‘SD’ (“selective default”), stating that the December 19th default on a short-term dollar bond was resolved.
A debtor rated ‘CC’ is highly vulnerable. The ‘CC’ rating is used when a default has not yet occurred but S&P Global Ratings expects default to be a virtual certainty, regardless of the anticipated time to default
S&P downgraded Argentina to ‘SD’ on December 20th after President Alberto Fernández’s government unilaterally extended the maturity of all short-term dollar bonds on December 19th, and the rating agency said it constituted a default.
According to the rating agency, Fernández’s government “continues to work on a general debt management strategy, although it has not yet announced a plan for immediate restructuring.
The negative outlook, according to S&P, reflects “negative risks on the full payment of debt according to our criteria in the coming months amidst the stressed dynamics of the economic and financial market.