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As President of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated in the official photo of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IDB, held in the City of Mendoza.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
March 25, 2018
On February 22, 2018, the Ministry of Finance of the Argentine Republic (the “Republic”) invited holders of the Republic’s outstanding Japanese law governed bonds listed below (the “Samurai Bonds”) to settle their outstanding claims under the terms and conditions of the proposal set forth in the attached notice (the “Proposal”).
List of Eligible Samurai Bonds
The Republic of Argentina Japanese Yen Bonds – Fourth Series (1996)
The Republic of Argentina Japanese Yen Bonds – Fifth Series (1999)
The Republic of Argentina Japanese Yen Bonds – Sixth Series (2000)
The Republic of Argentina Japanese Yen Bonds – Seventh Series (2000)
The Republic’s Ministry of Finance informs all holders of Samurai Bonds that as of March 23, 2018, 103 bondholders have agreed to accept the Proposal. These 103 bondholders collectively own the following outstanding principal amount of each Series of Samurai Bonds:
| Series | Total Outstanding Principal Amount * (JPY) | Total Principal Amount Accepted (JPY)
|
% of Total Outstanding Principal Amount |
| Fourth Series | 334 million | 181 million | 54.2% |
| Fifth Series | 90 million | 60 million | 66.7% |
| Sixth Series | 559 million | 234 million | 41.9% |
| Seventh Series | 895 million | 268 million | 29.9% |
* Excludes Samurai Bonds held by or on behalf of the Republic and submitted for cancellation to the CCB.
For those Series where a majority of bondholders accept the Proposal, the Republic intends to have the terms and conditions of the Proposal become binding on all holders of those Series of Samurai Bonds by having the bondholders pass the required resolution at a bondholders’ meeting. Although the Republic reserves the right to enter into individual settlement agreements with bondholders, the Republic will continue to prioritize finding a solution that includes all holders of Samurai Bonds, and will work towards a prompt settlement and payment. The Republic therefore encourages bondholders to accept the Proposal.
Holders of the Samurai Bonds who have not yet accepted the Proposal but wish to do so and participate in the upcoming settlement process should contact one of the following no later than April 27, 2018:
1. Ministry of Finance, of the Argentine Republic
Osvaldo Colazo (Mr.) (e-mail: osvaldocolazo@mfin.gob.ar)
Gabriela Medrano (Ms.) (e-mail: gabrielamedrano@mfin.gob.ar)
2. Kojima Law Offices, attorneys in Japan for the Republic of Argentina
Argentina Desk
Telephone: 03-3222-1408 (Monday-Friday, 9:30am – 5:30pm), Fax: 03-3222-1405
E-mail: argentina_desk@kojimalaw.jp
Argentine Republic
President Mauricio Macri gave a speech at the event.
The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, talked at the Inaugural Session of the 59th Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he took over the presidency of the Board of Governors. President Mauricio Macri participated in the inaugural session and he said: “This event proves that we are in the right path”.
After being designated as President of the Board of Governors, Caputo said: “this is a big opportunity for Argentina to prove its commitment with the world”. During his speech, the Minister of Finance said that “the infrastructure deficit is a global challenge”, but he added: “in our region it needs an urgent solution”.
In this sense, Mr. Minister highlighted the importance of “the work done to allocate the private sector resources in infrastructure projects”. In addition, Caputo said that the “IDB may play a key role in the design of financial structures that allow to mitigate risks and maximize the use of said resources”.
Likewise, Caputo said that “it is crucial to make efforts towards a more sustainable and inclusive growth”. This way, Mr. Minister said before the Board of Governors that “it won’t be possible to generate this type of growth if the infrastructure debt is not settled”. “We have a big debt with society; we must improve their living conditions and turn this objective into a strategy of growth and employment”, Caputo added.
President Mauricio Macri also participated in the inaugural session and he said: “this is the first time in 22 years that this Meeting is held in Argentina and it is one of the many clear signals of the confidence we have achieved through the work done in two years”. “This event proves that we are in the right path. We have always known that the intelligent integration into the world is the only way to achieve a gradual growth”, he added.
Mr. President said: “we are fighting poverty” and he added: “there is no possible growth without infrastructure and social development”. In this sense, Macri highlighted the role of the IDB in meeting these goals: “In 2015, we had USD 750 million in approved loans and last year the amount was of USD 2.3 billion”.
In addition, the President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, highlighted that “President Mauricio Macri has always worked to turn Argentina into a modern and inclusive country”. “We welcome the commitment towards progress and we are glad to see how the whole citizenship supports this process”, he added.
In addition, Moreno said: “We have a big gap in infrastructure which requires the countries of the region to invest a 5% of GDP in the next years”. However, he said that “the public sector won’t be able to do it on its own” and he highlighted the “mechanisms to attract private capital, including the PPP scheme”.
The Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IDB Group is the main decision-making body of the organization, representing its 48 member countries. Most of the Governors are Ministers of Finance, Presidents of Central Banks, or other high level authorities of the member countries.
The Inter-American Development Bank is one of the largest sources of development financing for economic, social and institutional projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB provides loans, grants, and technical assistance; and it conducts extensive research to bring innovative and sustainable solutions for the most urgent problems of our region.
The team of the Ministry of Finance had a tough working agenda, which included bilateral meetings with the Governors of Jujuy and Chaco.
The Minister of Finance, Luis Caputo, participated today in the working lunch “PPP investment opportunities in Argentina”, taking place within the framework of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the City of Mendoza.
In his speech, the Minister of Finance said that the “PPP scheme is being applied in different parts of the world to modernize infrastructure and to combine it with fiscal discipline”. In this sense, Caputo made clear that “PPP is not a new tool: it has been used for many years in the region and the world”. “This has allowed us to learn from other countries experiences and at the same time it has forced us to make innovations and adapt the scheme to the Argentine reality”, he added.
The Undersecretary of PPP, José Luis Morea, said: “in the Ministry of Finance we are working on a solid legal structure of PPP projects in order to mitigate risks and make them more efficient”. Likewise, Morea explained: “we are presenting the best projects, ready for auction”. “We create incentives to make them more attractive and financeable for the private sector”, he added.
The tough agenda of the Finance Team in Mendoza included different working meetings. In the morning, Caputo, together with the Chief of Cabinet, Pablo Quirno, and the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martín Soto, participated in the execution of the Urban Waste Management Plan between the Governor of Jujuy, Gerardo Morales, and The European Investment Bank.
In addition, the Finance Team held working meetings with the Governor of Chaco, Domingo Peppo; the General Manager of the Inter-American Investment Corporation, James Scriven; and the Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Banks (AIIB), Danny Alexander.
On the second day of the Annual Meeting of the IDB, Minister Caputo held a meeting with representatives of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) and with the President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Nick Rischbieth. Likewise, the Finance team met with the Director of Banco Basa, Santiago Peña, and with the Minister of Finance of Chile, Felipe Larrain Bascuñan.
Later that day, the Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Secretary of Finance, Santiago Bausili, talked at the Americas Business Dialogue about the initiative of the private sector, promoted by the IDB, to foster a high-level policy dialogue between business leaders and the Governments of the region for the economic and social development of the continent.
The meeting focused on the joint analysis of the most important recommendations for Argentina and on the evaluation of cooperation opportunities between the Government and the private sector in the application of these recommendations, which should be submitted within the framework of the 8th Summit of the Americas, to be conducted in Lima in April 2018.
The Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the IDB is the top decision-making body of the organization, representing the 48 member countries. Most of the Governors are Ministers of Finance or Economy or Central Banks presidents.