Government to seek support before submitting bill to 'reprofile' local debt

The Government has decided to postpone the sending of a bill to restructure local debt repayments, say sources close to the Casa Rosada.

The decision was taken after a meeting at Government House attended by Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio and other officials.

The Mauricio Macri administration recently announced it would postpone US$7 billion of payments on short-term local notes held by institutional investors this year and will seek the “voluntary reprofiling‘’ of US$50 billion of longer-term debt. Finance Minister Hernán Lacunza also said the administration would also start talks over repayments on US$44 billion it has received to date from the IMF.

The Government's original intention was to submit its legislative project on Monday. But after talks with the legislative branches of the Cambiemos coalition, the Executive has instead decided to seek consensus with opposition lawmakers beforehand. Officials will also seek to discuss points informally with the nation's governors, in order to sure up its foundations.

According to Perfil, the government is seeking to win legislative support for its measure, so the project is not delayed in Congress.

"We cannot afford to have this blocked in Congress, there is no time or margin," a PRO lawmaker with knowledge of the talks told the newspaper.

Lacunza's planned visit to a Congressional bicameral committee on the monitoring external debt, scheduled for Wednesday, has also been postponed.

Provisional Senate President, Federico Pinedo, later confirmed the decision to La Nación.

"Before sending the project, they will seek greater consensus, so the visit of the minister is suspended," he said.

– TIMES/PERFIL