Pablo Ibáñez
08/13/2020 - 13:02
- Clarín.com
- Politics
After the agreement of Minister Martín Guzmán with foreign bondholders, while waiting for the start of talks with the IMF, the debt issue focuses on the Buenos Aires negotiation that expires this Friday. The Province, like the Nation, proposed an exchange for clearing the strong maturities that the next few years have with payments that, on average, are 1,300 million dollars annually between 2020 and 2023.
Axel Kicillof led the negotiation together with his Minister of Economy, Pablo López; they were, back in 2014, the negotiators with the Paris Club, a process questioned by some economists. Now, the governor waited for the national exchange to be cleared and hopes, with this advanced agreement, to close the Buenos Aires segment.
The Province went out torenegotiate terms and interests for a debt of 7,148 million dollars , which is the one that is in the hands of holders under foreign legislation.
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, head of the Buenos Aires government, and Axel Kicillof, governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, met this Wednesday to discuss the quarantine.
In La Plata, they affirm that "conversations with creditors" were accelerated to "seek a consensual solution . " They explain, in parallel, that although several funds that participated in the national negotiation are repeated, the Buenos Aires question has its own logic.
One of them is that there is a committee of bondholders where, unlike Nación, the groups converge that in the negotiation with Guzmán were divided into three groups. Another nuance is that although they are called "hard", such as BlackRock, they have less incidence .
Kicillof and López are seeking "short-term and sustainable financial relief , " and they hope to advance on that front. This Friday a deadline expires but, although it is not official, it is not ruled out that there will be a new extension.
The calendar set a date of 14 for the receipt of notifications of acceptance of the offer, but the Province has time until Monday to, once with these data, arrange an eventual extension.
Axel Kicillof, in a videoconference with GBA mayors to define the extension of the quarantine.
The last offer the governor made was similar to one of Guzmán's first: $ 45 per staff. Later, at the national table, that had several modifications until the agreement of $ 54 per plate was reached.
In Provincia, talks continued on the basis that the initial, open and public offering may require "amendments." That is, corrections.
But in La Plata they maintain that despite the national agreement, the situation in the Province is different. They do not say so openly but suggest they are not in a position to repeat Guzmán's last offer .
There is, aside, a backstage that the Province manages. One has to do with the fact that 84% of Buenos Aires debt is issued in foreign currency and concentrated in the short term.
In La Plata, he argues that the renegotiation with foreign bondholders is part of a "sustainable financing" scheme that, in times of pandemic, with a monumental drop in income , became more complex.
Last week, unanimously, Kicillof achieved a Financing law that authorizes it to take on debt throughout 2020. One segment is for dollars for multilateral organizations, the line where the Province wants to focus for the financing of works.
Axel Kicillof and his minister Pablo López, in a videoconference, at the end of June.
It has, in fact, agreed credits from the previous management that, the Government explains, had not been launched. They list loans for 5 billion with multilateral entities that had "very low execution."
Another source of financing is the market in pesos, a historical resource through provincial bills . In line with Guzmán, López is committed to strengthening this financing route.
In Economy they point out that the terms of the local debt in pesos, the short-term bills, "improved" . "In December the average term was 25 days and now it is 70. The rate in December was 45% and in the last placement, at the end of July, it was 26%," they detail from the Province.
In the middle, there was a strong shift in national funds that, as for most provinces, was key to avoiding delays in the payment of salaries and, above all, in sensitive areas in times of COVID such as Health and Social Development.
