FILE PHOTO: General view of the 9 de Julio avenue deserted, one of the main avenues of the city, while Argentines stay at home during the mandatory quarantine due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Buenos Aires, Argentina March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto/File Photo
April 21, 2020
By Nicolás Misculin
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The provincial government of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires will propose a three-year grace period and a 7% capital drawdown to creditors as part of a $7.148 billion debt restructuring, a local government source told Reuters on Tuesday.
The proposal, to be presented in the coming days, is roughly in line with one put by Argentina`s federal government to its own creditors as the country struggles with an economic crisis exacerbated by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The details of the offer by Buenos Aires province, the largest in the country, were agreed after meetings the governor, Axel Kicillof, held with various mayors of the district.
The proposal includes low interest payments starting in 2023, a 55% reduction in overall interest payments between 2020 and 2027, with administrators hoping to achieve total debt relief of $5 billion between 2020 and 2030 if it is accepted, the source said.
(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin, writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Tom Brown)