S&P lifts Argentina rating out of default after debt revamp
Global ratings agency S&P upgraded Argentina's long-term sovereign credit rating on Monday, pulling it out of default territory after the South American country successfully restructured over $100 billion in sovereign debt.
"This important step forward provides the opportunity for the government to articulate a broader plan to tackle various post-pandemic macroeconomic challenges," S&P said.
Argentina has over the last week restructured around $65 billion in foreign bonds and over $41 billion in foreign currency debt issued under local law - a big win for the country that has been mired in recession and default.
Argentina now has to turn its attentions to negotiating a new deal with the IMF to replace a failed $57 billion credit facility taken on by former President Mauricio Macri in 2018 (of which $45 billion was borrowed) and to hold talks with the Paris Club groups of lenders.
The nation is also facing its third straight year of recession with forecasts for a 12% contraction this year.
At: https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2020-09-07/s-p-raises-argentinas-long-term-foreign-currency-rating-to-ccc
Argentine President Alberto Fernández speaks during the opening of a new beer plant south of Buenos Aires - part of an ongoing recovery from the record contraction seen in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in March and April.
Fernández's refinancing efforts allowed S&P to lift its default rating on Argentine bonds a year after former President Mauricio Macri defaulted on some of the nation's $325 billion public debt - including peso-denominated debt, in a historic first for the debt-strapped nation.
