Argentina bond spreads widen to most in 14 yrs

Bloomberg

Argentina bond spreads widened to the most in 14 years after opposition leader Alberto Fernandez ripped the debt-laden country’s accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The spread over Treasuries widened 182 basis points to 2,003 basis points, the most since June 2005, after Fernandez said much of the IMF loan had been wasted on financing capital flight out of the country. The peso fell 1.8 percent, while stocks extended three days of losses.
The decline in the peso could have been worse if the central bank hadn’t carried out its biggest intervention in the spot market since Guido Sandleris took over at the bank in September, 2018. Policy makers sold $302 million into the market through seven auctions, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
A technical team from the IMF is in Buenos Aires to decide whether to give out the next disbursement of a $56 billion loan deal. In a statement following a meeting with IMF officials, Fernandez said he agreed with the objectives of the IMF deal, but added that the IMF and the current government generated the current crisis and are now responsible for reversing the “social catastrophe.”