Argentina
is negotiating with the IMF and with creditors in an attempt to re-enter
international credit markets. The country has been locked out of these markets
since its financial meltdown in 2001-2002, and the subsequent debt
restructuring in 2005 was disastrous for bondholders who got no more than 36 cents on the dollar.
Economy Minster Amado Boudou has hinted that Argentina
will re-engage with the IMF after meeting with a senior official, according to
the Wall Street Journal. He also emphasized that Argentina
intends to remain independent, accepting no conditions from outside parties. “”We
can accept (credit) without accepting conditions, and sitting down as equals at
all the tables in the world,” Boudou told the WSJ.
Regardless, it’s going to be a rocky road back to economic
respectability for the battered Argentine government. The Paris Club of creditors has been
particularly incensed with them in the past, and they will not accept an offer
like the 36-cent settlement of 2005. Nine years of accrued interest on
Argentine debt mean that lenders will expect at minimum of 45 cents more.
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