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The bill authorizes the Ministry of Economy to take several actions in order to restore debt sustainability
The bill to "restore the sustainability of Argentina's public foreign debt" sent to Parliament on Tuesday empowers Economy Minister Martín Guzmán to take a series of actions to restructure bonds issued under foreign legislation.
The initiative was announced on Tuesday morning by Guzmán himself in a press conference and finally entered Parliament in the late afternoon.
Sources in the Chamber of Deputies told Efe that the bill will be discussed next Tuesday, after that there will be a debate in the Lower House on Thursday.
Argentina necesita resolver su profunda crisis de deuda pública para ponerse de pie. Por eso hoy enviaremos al Congreso un proyecto de ley que servirá para poder restaurar la sostenibilidad de la deuda pública externa.https://t.co/fQoOGCQfSj
— Martín Guzmán (@Martin_M_Guzman) January 21, 2020
Argentina needs to solve its deep public debt crisis to get back on its feet. That is why today we will send Congress a bill that will serve to restore the sustainability of the foreign public debt.
In his contact with the press, Guzmán had anticipated that the Executive would send this project to Congress to face negotiations with creditors in the midst of the "critical" situation of Argentina's foreign debt, which amounts to more than 270 billion dollars.
"Today it is our turn to restore debt sustainability, something that has been lost. The country cannot sustain the debt burden it faces today," explained the economy minister.
The bill authorizes the Ministry of Economy to issue new public securities in order to modify the profile of interest and capital amortization maturities.
It also gives Guzmán freedom to determine the times, terms, methods and procedures for issuing new public securities and to designate and contract financial institutions and advisors to act as coordinators of the process or as placement agents.
The Minister of Economy did not want to give details of the negotiation he faces with debt holders, something he said will become known after a process "that also feeds into the talks with the bondholders on the basis of good faith.
After the million-dollar debt restructuring in 2005, Argentina was the target of lawsuits in New York courts by investment funds that had not accepted the swap and that sought to seize accounts and other assets of the Argentine state to collect the claimed debt.
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