Argentina faces race against time

摘要

Argentina was left with little choice but to negotiate with litigant holdout investors last week after the US Supreme Court rejected its plea that it overturn a lower court ruling forcing the country to pay those investors in full next time it pays bondholders that accepted its 2005 and 2010 exchange offers. The clock is ticking for the beleaguered sovereign, which must now reach an agreement with NML Capital and other litigants by June 30 - or go into technical default. NML and the other litigants are making US$1.33bn in claims. "The worst-case scenario has been realised," said Peter Lannigan, head of EM strategy at CRT Capital Group. "It looks like the odds that Argentina is going to default have risen substantially."