Creditors Threaten Buenos Aires Province with Court Actions over Repayment Delay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, which owes US$7 billion in foreign debt to a group of creditors, could face harsh repayment terms if it does not urgently address defaults, the group of creditors said on Friday, January 29th.

Since an offer in April was rejected by bondholders, the province has repeatedly pushed deadlines for talks with the group. Meanwhile, Argentina’s federal government recently revamped almost $110 billion in foreign currency bonds.

The Steering Committee of the Ad Hoc Group of Buenos Aires Bondholders said on Thursday it was concerned by a “continuing absence of progress in curing the Province’s long-standing payment default on its outstanding international bonds.”

“Absent a decisive change of course by the Province, which the Group has repeatedly called for, the members of the Group will have no choice but to exercise their available remedies under the outstanding bonds,” the creditors said.

Their actions could include acceleration of some or all the outstanding bonds and legal enforcement of the bond contracts, the group said.

The Buenos Aires provincial government issued a statement in conjunction with other provinces on Friday, reaffirming its willingness to negotiate a restructuring but “rejecting the use of pressure tools of a judicial nature to force unsustainable solutions.”

Argentina has been mired in an economic crisis since 2018 and is heading for its third consecutive year of recession, with an expected contraction close to 12% this year, as well as a currency crisis that has led to tough capital controls.

Recently, Córdoba, the country’s second most important province after Buenos Aires in terms of GDP contribution, reached an agreement with creditors to restructure US$1.7 billion of its debt.