Argentina dollar bonds hit record highs as Milei rally powers on

Argentina’s dollar-denominated international bonds continued to rally, with the 2030 paper posting its highest-ever closing price on Thursday at slightly above 51 cents on the dollar.

The bonds have rallied from lows that took the 2030 issue to 18.125 cents in mid-July 2022, on the back of investor bets that the administration of President Javier Milei, in power since December, will be able to successfully transform the Argentine economy.

At the index level Argentina’s bonds have gained some 60% since Milei was elected on Nov. 19.

The South American grains exporter issued six new U.S.-dollar Eurobonds in September 2020, with maturities set for 2029, 2030, 2035, 2038, 2041 and 2046, as part of the restructuring of some $65 billion in debt owed to bondholders. Six euro-denominated bonds with the same maturities were also issued.

The dollar bonds have traded lower than their initial price since the second half of September 2020, if not since inception, according to LSEG Datastream data.

The new bonds replaced a batch that included then-recently-issued bonds together with a 100-year note maturing in 2117.