By Jorge Otaola
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will make interest payment due on dollar and euro-denominated “Par” bonds on Wednesday this week, the country’s Economy Ministry said in a statement on Monday, closing off an unresolved issue from its recent major debt revamp.
The government had failed to restructure a small number of bonds, including the Pars, as part of an otherwise successful $65 billion foreign debt restructuring, which saw 99% of eligible debt exchanged at the end of last month.
The government had been considering trying to win over the remaining 1% of mostly European retail investors, offering them the same terms as those who had agreed to the initial deal. The new bonds in the exchange had been issued on Sept. 4.
The Economy Ministry said that it had decided that the costs of making a second offer “were not justified,” especially given the uncertainty of a favorable outcome.
It said payment of the $12 million in interest on the bonds would avoid the “adverse consequences and uncertainty for Argentina and the investment community.”
“This decision is an additional step on the agenda to bolster the Argentine economy and continue on the path of economic-financial normalization,” it said.
(Reporting by Jorge Otaola and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
