Sovereign default risks are on course to rise further in 2021, with Iraq, Sri Lanka, Angola and Gabon at high probability of default, say Goldman Sachs analysts, Reuters reported. Five sovereign debt defaults or distressed debt exchanges - in which investors swap their debt for new bonds, often with longer maturities and a reduced value - have already happened in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, the most in around two decades.

Some of Argentina’s biggest bondholders have issued a sharp rebuke to the government over its handling of the country’s deteriorating economic situation, just a few months after reaching a compromise to restructure $65bn worth of debt, the Financial Times reported. In a statement released on Thursday, two creditor groups at the heart of the recent negotiations to resolve Argentina’s unsustainable debt burden accused the government of putting forward policies that “undermine” its own economic recovery, such as its recent decision to tighten capital controls.

Suriname said on Thursday it wanted to make use of a 30-day grace period on its dollar-bond coupon payments coming due on Oct. 26 to engage with creditors to tackle its debt sustainability issues, Reuters reported. Indicating that it might not pay the coupon due on Monday, the government said in a statement it had invited all its commercial creditors to an investor presentation on Oct. 30. “Public debt has risen to historical levels and borrowing continued even as severe macroeconomic and financial imbalances were building up,” the government of the South American nation said.

Argentine bondholder groups slammed the government on Thursday over economic policies they said were undermining investor confidence in the country, which emerged from a sovereign default in September after a $65 billion restructuring, Reuters reported. Two of the groups involved in that debt revamp said in a statement that policies since then had “failed to restore confidence” and instead had “dramatically worsened the country’s economic crisis.” Bond prices have dropped sharply since the exchange.

Investors are giving up on Argentina just six weeks after it pulled off a $65 billion restructuring, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s overseas bonds have plummeted more than 20% since early September, the world’s biggest drop in that span. Morgan Stanley calls it the worst rout in the aftermath of a restructuring in at least 20 years, and it comes despite the nation winning a whopping $38 billion of debt relief from creditors. Those same investors have been dismayed at what followed.

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is approaching some of the nation’s creditors in a bid to lay the groundwork for a debt deal should sanctions ease after next month’s U.S. election, Bloomberg News reported. His team has convened phone calls with local bondholders in the past few weeks, as well as those from Colombia, Argentina and Europe, according to people familiar with the matter. Prominent investors such as Boston-based Fidelity Investments; Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BlackRock Inc.

During a pandemic that has wreaked havoc with global travel, Enrique Beltranena is something of a rarity: a happy airline boss. Volaris, his Mexican low-cost airline, has added, not cut, routes during the crisis, has a healthy balance sheet and is “cautiously optimistic” in its outlook, he said.

Colombia will bring home the $5.3 billion from its International Monetary Fund loan at a gradual pace to avoid causing turbulence in currency markets, deputy Finance Minister Juan Pablo Zarate said, Bloomberg News reported. This cautious approach also improves the chances of the nation getting a more favorable exchange rate, Zarate said in a video interview on Thursday. Colombia will be the first country to tap an IMF flexible credit line, a pre-approved source of funding that comes with no conditions on how it’s spent.

Countries do not usually gain friends when telling creditors they can’t pay them back. Yet Ecuador earned serious plaudits as it went about restructuring $17.4bn of bonds this year, GlobalCapital reported. The Ad Hoc Bondholder Group that owned more than half of the sovereign’s bonds even said that the process “set a precedent” for Covid-19 era restructurings. Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore, part of the Ad Hoc group, explains that on one hand the group was referring to modifications in collective actions clauses that some creditors hope will become standard practice.

Nextel Brazil has been rebranded as Claro-nxt after being acquired by America Movil in December last year, Developing Telecoms reported. America Movil, which operates Claro Brasil, spent US$905 million to obtain the unit from NII Holdings. Nextel subscribers have now been migrated and can access Claro’s LTE-A network, as well as benefits such as free calling and WhatsApp messages. Nextel’s former parent NII Holdings has now filed a “verified petition for dissolution” in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, reports TeleGeography.