Amado Boudou, Argentina’s economy minister, has a permanent smile and a ready answer whenever the subject of his country’s debts to the Paris Club comes up. Negotiations with the 19 Western creditor governments on the debt of some $7bn are advancing very nicely, thank you; Argentina won’t accept any deal it considers harmful to its interests; and we’ll have a deal in the bag by the end of the year. Continue reading »

Paris – city of lights, and, if you are Argentine, also of sovereign debt repayment. Amado Boudou, the country’s economy minister, will be there this week hoping to reschedule almost $7bn of sovereign debt that Argentina owes the 19-nation Paris Club.

Doing so will help unlock potentially millions of dollars of bilateral trade finance and so mark another step in Argentina’s tortuous reconciliation with international markets after its $100bn debt default in 2001. But Boudou probably should not get his hopes up – unless he is prepared to cough up too. Continue reading »