Argentina

Barring a last-minute deal, Argentina will default on billions of dollars of bonds on Wednesday, the International New York Times reported. It would be Argentina’s second default in 13 years. But unlike the last time, when scores of unhappy Argentines took to the street as unemployment rose to 25 percent and inflation soared, this default would look decidedly different. Argentina’s equity, bond and currency markets, which have been volatile in recent days, would certainly feel a jolt.

Argentines are poised for a default on Wednesday – their third in just over three decades. The trigger would be a missed $539m interest payment after mediated talks between the government and a group of “holdout” creditors made no apparent progress last week. The growing prospect of default has begun to focus minds on what would come next. Economists broadly expect a recession in the country would deepen, inflation to rise and capital flight – possibly triggering a second devaluation of the peso this year.

Settlement talks set for Wednesday between Argentina and bondholders who did not participate in the country's past debt restructuring have been rescheduled for Thursday, the court-appointed mediator said. Daniel Pollack, a New York lawyer appointed to oversee the settlement discussions, had scheduled a meeting for 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) after a U.S. judge ordered the parties to meet "continuously" until a deal is reached. Pollack in a statement said he was advised by the Argentina delegation they could not get to New York for the Wednesday meeting.

A U.S. judge ordered Argentina and investors who did not participate in the country's past debt restructurings to meet "continuously" with a court-appointed mediator until a settlement is reached, warning of the threat of a new default, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in New York told Argentina and lawyers for investors who declined to restructure their bonds after the country defaulted on about $100 billion in 2002 that time was running out to reach a deal and avert a fresh default. "That is about the worst thing I can envision.

As Argentina’s multi-billion dollar showdown with its hedge fund creditors nears its finale, global organisations are trying to hammer out a plan that will prevent such a stand-off from being repeated, the Financial Times reported. For the past six months, debt issuers, market intermediaries and investors have been discussing a new idea that would make it more difficult for small numbers of recalcitrant creditors to “hold out” against a critically indebted country that restructures its debt.

Less than three weeks before Argentina risks a default, government officials still haven’t met with hedge funds who won a court ruling forbidding the country to make bond interest payments before they get $1.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported. “We have not seen any indication that Argentina is serious about even beginning a negotiation,” NML Capital, one of the holders of bonds from Argentina’s 2001 default that sued for full repayment, said in a statement July 11.

Holdout investors who rejected Argentina’s debt restructurings in the wake of its $95bn default have said they are prepared to give Buenos Aires extra time to settle, but only if the country negotiates in good faith, the Financial Times reported. Argentine officials met in New York on Monday with a mediator in the dispute. The country needs to reach a rapid deal with holdouts if it is to avoid a second default. Under a US court ruling, Argentina cannot service its restructured bonds unless it also settles with the holdouts in full.

Argentina will not make a formal offer to settle its dispute with holdout investors in its sovereign debt at its meeting on Monday with a court-appointed mediator, an Argentine daily wrote on Saturday, citing Economy Ministry sources. After a string of adverse U.S. court decisions, Argentina has until the end of July to settle with a group of creditors who refused to accept the terms of its restructurings following its 2002 default on $100 billion of debt.

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has less than a month to choose between two unpalatable options: fulfilling a vow never to pay off creditor hedge funds, or negotiating with them to avoid a rerun of the 2001 debt crisis that forced a predecessor to flee the presidential palace in a helicopter, Bloomberg News reported.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. must return a $539 million deposit from Argentina intended for restructured bondholders, a U.S. judge ruled, calling the transfer an “explosive action” that disrupted potential settlement talks with holders of defaulted debt, Bloomberg News reported. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in New York has ruled that Argentina can’t pay holders of its restructured debt without also paying more than $1.5 billion to a group of defaulted bondholders, raising the possibility of a new default as the South American nation approaches a June 30 payment deadline.