Argentina faces prospect of another default

• Argentina is on the cusp of registering another devastating default, analysts have told CNBC, as international investors anxiously await the outcome of “do-or-die” debt restructuring talks.
• Argentina’s government has said it needs to restructure $100 billion in debt, including $44 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2001, Argentina defaulted on around $100 billion of debt. It triggered the worst economic crisis in the country’s history and resulted in millions of middle-class citizens falling into poverty — a consequence many in Argentina blame on the fiscal policies enforced by the IMF at the time.
• Speaking from Buenos Aires, Jimena Blanco, head of Latin America at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC via telephone that the risk consultancy had assigned a 77% probability that Argentina would default before the end of the year.
• In an interview with Bloomberg News on Sunday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the fund would not be prepared to offer a so-called haircut on its $44 billion loan with Buenos Aires.
• The risk of the country registering another sovereign debt default — it’s ninth — had increased in recent weeks, Blanco said, citing a growing lack of policy cohesion within the coalition and a shortening timeframe to secure strong political backing.

(Source: CNBC)