Raising the stakes with the country's bondholders, Argentina's economy minister is considering a sovereign default (its third in two decades) on $65B of foreign debt unless investors alleviate its financial burden while tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked whether that was too great of a price to pay, Martin Guzmán responded: "Every path is associated with trade-offs" and the government would not accept a deal "based on illusions and rosy scenarios."
Creditors including BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Fidelity and T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) have so far rejected an offer that would involve the suspension of all debt payments for three years, a 62% reduction in interest payments worth $38B, and a 5.4% cut in principal repayment, valued at $3.6B.
