The Buenos Aires Ministry Finance statement payment interest foreign currency bonds will be met - Pablo López said that since December 20 progress is made in conversations with creditors. Only this year the provincial government will face debt maturities of about USD 2.9 billion

Buenos Aires Treasury Minister Pablo López said Tuesday that “the Province formally issued a request for consent to the holders of a specific bond, which is due in 2021, but a payment of approximately USD 277 million on January 26

López explained that this maturity corresponds to about USD 27 million in interest, to be paid on January 26, and USD 250 million of capital, whose payment will be deferred if agreed with the holders.

Buenos Aires Ministry Finance statement payment interest

“The proposal is to defer the payment of capital until May of this year. The Province has decided that the payment of the interest coupon will be made on the stipulated date, ”López said.

In addition, he confirmed that this year the payment of interest of a bond in euros will be made normally.

The provincial finance minister said that only this year they will overcome liabilities for “about USD 2.9 billion”, which will be extended to USD 8.8 billion in the next four years of the management of the Front of All in the district.

The economist said that "it is not the intention to negotiate payment for payment, if not find a more substantive solution," which led to contact the creditors since last December 20. And he pointed out that "under current conditions the debt is unsustainable."

Within the framework of a press conference that he gave together with Buenos Aires Governor Áxel Kicillof, López said that "the request for consensus" is part of "the letter of the contracts" of the issuance of public securities. This implies that “certain conditions in the securities can be changed, with agreement of 75% adhesion, applicable to 100 percent” of the holders.

"It is important to mention that since we assumed we have been marking the debt issue as a central problem to face," López acknowledged, in a meeting with the press held at the Buenos Aires government headquarters in La Plata.

López defined as "extremely complicated" the situation of the debt of the province: "The increase in debt in four years has been noticeable, has changed its composition and has increased in foreign currency. And the Province collects in pesos, not dollars. ”

The economist explained that "the variations in the exchange rate", the amount of the debt and "its composition have strongly affected the finances of the province." Therefore, he considered "necessary to recover the sustainability of the debt" and the measure stated in this Tuesday contributes to "moving forward in a process in this direction."

“We have started a period of consultation with the entire universe of creditors in the province of Buenos Aires as of December 20. And since January 7, the process was more focused on this particular title, ”said the official, referring to the Buenos Aires Province Bond due in 2021 (BP21), a foreign currency issue than the Daniel administration Scioli placed in international markets, as this species does not operate on the local Stock Exchange.

"We have had conversations and talks with the holders of this title," said López, who said that from the dialogue they are looking for "a fair and equitable solution, within the margins of the province in terms of the restrictions we have in the payment capacity".