Decisão infeliz e lamentável da Suprema Corte do Império que cria um serio precedente que poderá ter impacto em outros processos de reestruturação.
Argentina’s economy minister Axel Kicillof said he wanted to restructure debt held by foreign creditors under local law and the country would continue its fight against so-called “vulture funds”.
Mr Kicillof, speaking at a press conference a day after President Cristina Fernández delivered a 25-minute nationally broadcast speech arguing her government would not succumb to “extortion”, said the country was prepared to take the necessary steps to make sure it could honour commitments to its creditors.
His comments underline Buenos Aires’ increasingly frantic efforts to avoid being pushed into a sovereign default by the end of June after the US Supreme Court on Monday refused to overturn a New York district court ruling ordering the country to pay billions of dollars to some of its creditors.
The Supreme Court decision effectively means Argentina has to repay $1.5bn to “holdout” investors, led by hedge funds Aurelius Capital Management and NML Capital, a unit of billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp, at the same time as it services its restructured debt. A payment on the restructured debt of nearly $1bn falls due by June 30.
Mr Kicillof said the country would also send lawyers to speak to Thomas Griesa, the judge behind the New York district court ruling.
“If Griesa’s sentence is implicated . . . and Argentina has to pay the vulture funds, this would push Argentina into a default,” Mr Kicillof said, adding the funds were ruining government efforts made with debt restructuring programmes in 2005 and 2010.
Mr Kicillof and cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich are due to meet in Congress to discuss the implications of the Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday, with the opposition expected to call for the government to avoid a default.
“The question is whether Argentina wants to return to international markets or not,” said Fernando Navajos from the Foundation for Latin American Economic Investigations in Buenos Aires.
On Tuesday, Argentina’s sovereign credit rating was cut two notches by Standard & Poor’s.
S&P lowered its rating to ‘CCC-’ from ‘CCC+’ and maintained a negative outlook, citing the Supreme Court decision.
Analysts with the rating agency said they believed the outcome “raises the risk of payment interruptions”.
Fonte: FT
