Official sources confirmed to Ámbito that the British judge Simon Piken dismissed the request of the plaintiffs that implied an advance payment of the sentence in the first instance.
The Government received good news from London. Due to a ruling by the British judge Simon Piken, Argentina must not deposit in advance to vulture funds some u$s 375 million corresponding to the cause known as “PBI coupon”. The plaintiffs requested that the country transfer in a precautionary manner at least 25% of the US$ 1,500 million of the first instance sentence. The executive argued that if he gets rid of those resources, it could cause a “irremediable damage to the population”.
Despite the fact that there are still instances of appeal, the funds Palladian Partners, HBK Master Fund, Hirsh Group and Virtual Emerald International Limited, which sued the country in 2019, requested that the entire sentence be deposited or at least 25% in a form “precautionary”. Judge Piken did not uphold that request and also ruled out the possibility that creditors seize Argentine assets abroad.
Government sources confirmed to Ámbito the news that came from London and highlighted it as “positive”. They also revealed that in the previous one members of the economic team made a series of reports that give an account of the situation and the potential impacts on the national accounts. Another detail is that a specific document was added on the consequences of the drought on different variables. All this was used as argumentation by the legal area.
The judicial novelty will configure a relief for the reserves of the Central Bank, which according to a survey of the consultancy 1816 in net terms are in negative territory for more than US$6,000 million. This occurs after the Government finalized the payment of restructured debt coupons with private creditors for around US$1,000 million in the last few hours.
The ruling by the British judge includes some of the arguments put forward by the economic team. He points out that in the event of making the advance payment, Argentina would clearly suffer a loss that he considers “irremediable” because he is going through serious problems. Along these lines, he specifically mentions “the harsh drought that in recent months has aggravated the country’s problems.”
Previously, Treasury Secretary Raúl Rigo explained that the measure requested by the plaintiffs would have an immediate impact and would require reducing items that are planned for the 2023 budget. In addition, the Government argued that it was not planned in this fiscal year and that the Bank Central does not have tools within its organic charter to deal with this situation.
The judicial bid for the substantive issue continues. The plaintiffs who received a favorable ruling in the first instance in April assure that the State “manipulated” GDP data to avoid paying the clause imposed by Roberto Lavagna. The Government appealed the ruling and is committed to reversing the judicial decision that would imply the payment of US$1.5 billion.
Source: Ambito
