Post by vgambler33 on Dec 21, 2005 12:31:28 GMT -5
Venezuela buys $496M of Argentine bonds
BUENOS AIRES - Argentina sold $496 million of seven-year bonds to Venezuela, helping the country stockpile hard currency that it will use to pay back the $9.8 billion it owes the International Monetary Fund.
Argentina said in its official gazette that it sold the dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2012, known as Boden bonds, to Venezuela at ``market prices.''
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's government has now bought $1.48 billion of Argentine bonds this year, making it the biggest buyer of Argentine debt. Argentina needs the money to build up foreign reserves after President Néstor Kirchner announced last week he would use about a third of the central bank's reserves to pay off all the money the country owes the IMF.
''This helps Argentina's short-term financing needs,'' said Guillermo Mondino, head of emerging market economic research at Lehman Brothers Inc.
Chávez, whose country is the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter, is using windfall oil revenue to influence social, economic and political policies in South America and encourage opposition to the United States.
Chávez said during a visit to Uruguay on Dec. 8 that he wants to make the region less dependent on policies endorsed by the IMF and World Bank and by extension, the United States, which leads both organizations.
BUENOS AIRES - Argentina sold $496 million of seven-year bonds to Venezuela, helping the country stockpile hard currency that it will use to pay back the $9.8 billion it owes the International Monetary Fund.
Argentina said in its official gazette that it sold the dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2012, known as Boden bonds, to Venezuela at ``market prices.''
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's government has now bought $1.48 billion of Argentine bonds this year, making it the biggest buyer of Argentine debt. Argentina needs the money to build up foreign reserves after President Néstor Kirchner announced last week he would use about a third of the central bank's reserves to pay off all the money the country owes the IMF.
''This helps Argentina's short-term financing needs,'' said Guillermo Mondino, head of emerging market economic research at Lehman Brothers Inc.
Chávez, whose country is the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter, is using windfall oil revenue to influence social, economic and political policies in South America and encourage opposition to the United States.
Chávez said during a visit to Uruguay on Dec. 8 that he wants to make the region less dependent on policies endorsed by the IMF and World Bank and by extension, the United States, which leads both organizations.