Kicillof: 'The Boden 2015 payment is being carried out normally'

As the national government was scheduled to disburse US$5.9 billion today to cancel the Boden 2015 bond series, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof came on stage earlier to assure the payment was being carried out “normally.”

He also expressed confidence that the market will have a “good reception” after the government issues a new dollar-denominated bond tomorrow, as it was announced last Friday.

The Boden 2015 payment today “is important for the country because it proves we fulfill our commitments,” the minister said, adding the payment is made in a context of “high volatility in the international financial markets” and that only an “extraordinary” situation could affect a new debt issuance.

In statements to Radio del Plata this morning, the minister explained that “when there is a bad day, investors go for emerging bonds, from everyone, not only from Argentina.”

Asked about a drain of Central Bank reserves, which has been highly questioned, mainly by opposition leaders, Kicillof said “last year we reached 25 billions. Today we will pay a very large bond and they said we wouldn’t pay it. They have been inciting these campaigns. Basically, as reserves have been growing, they said we would end up with 20 billions, today we have 33 billions and they still say they are not enough." "These are all campaigns seeking to deny the economy is giving signals in many sectors. Inflation is decelerating, production is growing and construction is growing. Of course, it is not the best year,” Kicillof stated.