Argentina swaps $21.7 billion in domestic debt, dimming default risk

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina has swapped 4.34 trillion pesos ($21.66 billion) in domestic debt, amounting to around 64% of loans due to mature through June and helping to ease near-term fears of a debt default as the economy falters under pressure from a devastating drought.

布宜诺斯艾利斯（路透社）——阿根廷已交换了 4.34 万亿比索（216.6 亿美元）的国内债务，约占 6 月到期贷款的 64%，有助于缓解近期因经济在压力下步履蹒跚而出现债务违约的担忧来自毁灭性的干旱。

The swap exchanges old debt for new bonds maturing in 2024 and 2025, according to an economy ministry statement Thursday.

根据经济部周四的一份声明，该掉期交易将旧债务换成 2024 年和 2025 年到期的新债券。

“In this way, the uncertainty about the debt maturities of the coming months is cleared up, helping to preserve the sustainability of the Treasury debt,” the ministry said.

“这样一来，未来几个月债务到期的不确定性就消除了，有助于保持国债的可持续性，”该部表示。

Argentina had initially hoped to swap around half of its total debt due, an official source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity earlier this week.

本周早些时候，一位不愿透露姓名的官方消息人士告诉路透社，阿根廷最初希望交换约一半的到期债务。

“Between banks, insurers and companies, the (swap) volume would be between 3 and 3.5 trillion pesos (around $17 billion),” they said, adding that swapping “anything above 50% will already be a great achievement.”

“在银行、保险公司和公司之间，（互换）量将在 3 到 3.5 万亿比索（约合 170 亿美元）之间，”他们说，并补充说互换“超过 50% 就已经是一个了不起的成就。”

The swap, first announced Monday, prompted global rating agency S&P to slash Argentina‘s local currency rating to ’SD/SD‘ (selective default) from ’CCC-/C‘ Thursday. It also downgraded Argentina’s national rating to ‘SD’ from ‘raCCC+’.

互换于周一首次宣布，促使全球评级机构标准普尔周四将阿根廷的本币评级从“ccc-/c”下调至“sd/sd”（选择性违约）。它还将阿根廷的国家评级从“raccc+”下调至“sd”。

Argentine stocks and bonds also fell Thursday as investment funds flocked for the exit following news of the debt swap, which aims to ease market uncertainty in an election year and amid a stalling economy.

阿根廷股票和债券周四也下跌，因为投资基金在债务互换消息传出后蜂拥而至退出，债务互换旨在缓解选举年和经济停滞期间的市场不确定性。

Though the debt swap is technically voluntary rather than a forced restructuring, the agency – and indeed the markets – still appear to view it as a distressed event.

尽管债务互换在技术上是自愿的，而不是强制重组，但该机构——实际上是市场——似乎仍将其视为一个痛苦的事件。

This is Argentinas third bond swap since August 2022.

这是阿根廷自 2022 年 8 月以来的第三次债券互换。

Argentina also still has an eye-watering estimated $170 billion of local debt due, given the swap only pushes back the payment deadline.

考虑到互换只是推迟还款期限，阿根廷还有令人眼花缭乱的 1700 亿美元到期地方债务。

Meanwhile, a historic drought in Argentina has squeezed the economy, which is already battling an expected annual inflation rate of some 100%.

与此同时，阿根廷历史性的干旱已经挤压了经济，该国已经在与预计年通货膨胀率约为 100% 的情况作斗争。

Economy Minister Sergio Massa recently described the swap as “giving predictability” to the market to improve access to credit.

经济部长塞尔吉奥·马萨 (sergio massa) 最近将互换描述为“赋予市场可预测性”，以改善获得信贷的机会。

The opposition led by the “Juntos por el Cambio” coalition have criticized the latest measure since the new maturities will need to be handled by the incoming government following the October elections.

由“juntos por el cambio”联盟领导的反对派批评了最新措施，因为新的到期日将需要在 10 月选举后由即将上任的政府处理。

(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin and Jorge Otaola; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Diane Craft)

（nicolas misculin 和 jorge otaola 的报道；isabel woodford 的写作；anthony esposito 和 diane craft 的编辑）