Argentina to default (again)?

[Soi Dog]

Argentina's financial woes continue. Imagine waking up to find the government has frozen your personal bank account.

Argentina hours away from bond default
By Katy Watson
BBC South America Business reporter, Buenos Aires

Argentina's legal team says the nation can't afford to pay the so-called hold-out creditors

Argentina's economy minister is expected to return to the negotiating table on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the country defaulting on its bonds.

Axel Kicillof's talks with "hold-out" investors ended late on Tuesday night in New York without agreement.

They are demanding a full pay-out of $1.3bn (£766m) on the bonds they hold.

A US judge has ruled that the "hold-outs" must be paid by Wednesday night if no deal is agreed.

But thousands of miles away in Buenos Aires, many are sceptical that there can be any agreement.

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Argentine woman: "It gets harder to make ends meet."
The government's rhetoric has been clear.

The "hold-outs" are US hedge funds that bought debt on the cheap during Argentina's darkest hours and never agreed to restructuring.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner calls them vultures, accusing them of taking advantage of Argentina's debt problems to make a big profit.

What makes the problem worse is that if the "hold-outs" get their way, other bondholders who agreed to take cuts of up to 70% in what they are owed may also demand full repayment.

Ask people on the street about their view on Argentina's debt troubles and most admit it is too complicated for them to understand.

But the two words they do know are "fondos buitres" - "vulture funds" in Spanish.

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[taranis]

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[vladimir]

Creditors/banks behaving badly, who woulda thunk it?

[HotRecruiter]

Because they lost the World Cup. It happens.

[Joker Poker]

Still broke from the Falklands war?

[Soi Dog]

Still broke from the Falklands war?

The country was in a horrible economic mess long before the Falklands debacle. The drums of war started beating and patriotism was hyped by the government specifically to focus the population's attention away from their severe economic morass at the time.

[Soi Dog]

Here is what their currency has done over the past 2 years vs the US dollar.
Apparently, you can easily get nearly twice this official exchange rate on the local black market.