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Thursday, September 25, 2003

Argentina: Just When You Thought it Was All Over............

They aren't happy on Wall Street. Obviously everyone is posturing here, but I don't see what else they realistically expected.

Wall Street reacted with disappointment to Argentina's request that private creditors write off 75 percent of its 94.3 billion dollars' debt. request, analysts said. US holders of Argentine bonds rejected the move, although they did show willingness to negotiate, hoping the crisis-stricken South American country would show some flexibility. "The reaction in Wall Street has been very negative," said Carl Ross, an analyst with Bear Sterns. The market was "surprised" by "the amount of the haircut that Argentina is looking for -- 75 percent," said Ross. "I think a lot of people felt maybe 50 to 60 percent would be more in line with the historical experience." Ross noted that Argentina's initial bargaining position -- "not paying the past due interest" worth 14 billion dollars since Argentina's December 2001 default -- "is truly a departure from previous norms." Personally, however, he said he was not very surprised. "When you analyze the numbers in Argentina what you find is that they cannot pay much more than the debt service implied in the 75 percent debt reduction," Ross added.
Source: Yahoo News
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