The week that ended left a disturbing signal in financial matters. On Thursday, January 8, the Government announced that on Friday the 9th it should return to restructure already restructured debtas agreed since July 2020, within the framework of the agreement reached during the administration of Martín Guzmán. These are bonds that had originally been restructured between 2005 and 2010 and that once again became a problem as a result of the overindebtedness in the voluntary bond market for more than USD 100,000 million between 2016 and 2017even though in that period money laundering was implemented that raised close to USD 10 billion.
The architect of that indebtedness was the then Secretary of Finance and later president of the Central Bank, today converted into Minister of Economy and main local executor of US Treasury policy: Luis Andres Caputo. In colloquial terms, the country reached maturity “with its tongue hanging out.” International markets remain closed for Argentina and everything indicates that they would not reopen before 2030, when most of the restructured bonds mature.
It is the third time in a short time that the Government must juggle financial matters, but each time with less margin. The January 2024 payment had already been anticipated in December 2023; That of July 2024 was covered by money laundering for USD 20,000 million. To reach each subsequent expiration, the Executive resorted to short-term REPO loans with international banksincreasingly larger and more expensive than the previous ones.
Detail of the REPOs taken:
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REPO 1
Date: January 2025
Capital: USD 1,000 million
TNA: 8.8%
Term: 24 months
Final rate: 18.88%
Total payment: USD 1,188 million -
REPO 2
Date: July 2025
Capital: USD 2,000 million
TNA: 8.25%
Term: 18 months
Final rate: 12.93%
Total payment: USD 2,259 million -
REPO 3
Date: January 2026
Capital: USD 3,000 million
TNA: 7.4%
Term: 12 months
Final rate: 7.55%
Total payment: USD 3,226 million
The banks Santander and BBVA had active participation in the first two REPOs. In the last one was added the Bank of Chinaa fact that should not go unnoticed in geopolitical terms.
For these REPOs, which expire between January and April 2027, Argentina must pay USD 6,673 milliona direct consequence of an economic policy aimed at plug short-term financial potholeswithout any consideration for industry, construction or employment. It is enough to remember that these sectors employed more than one million workers as of December 10, 2023 and today they have less than 900,000.
The accumulation of genuine reservations. Instead, “rented reserves” were chosen, obtained via loans whose final destination was never properly explained. The same occurs with the laundering of USD 20,000 million, for which there are still no clear surrenders. Only in 2026 will the country have a budget that can be audited by Congress. Before that, the Bases Law granted delegated powers that, in fact, implied an unprecedented concentration of power, endorsed by self-proclaimed “dialogue” legislators.
It should be remembered that the debt paid on Friday had a capital of USD 2.7 billionwith bonds that matured from July 2029 and a rate of 1.5% annually. To cancel it, the country went into debt USD 3,000 million at 7.65% annually for one year. The result is evident: a financially ruinous operation. To carry it forward, it was necessary violate the Public Debt Sustainability Law (Guzmán law)something that was enabled from articles 56 and following of the 2026 Budget.
The legislators who, with full knowledge, voted for those articles share the political responsibility. The same goes for those who promoted the current minister as the “Messi of finance”, when in fact he proved to be nothing more than a serial debtorwith the explicit endorsement of the President and the Chiefs of Staff, ultimately responsible according to the National Constitution.
As a complement to this scenario, on Friday the 9th at noon the Central Bank reported that the activated part of the swap with the United States for USD 2.5 billion was covered by a credit from the Bank for International Settlements. Today that swap is inactive, since in the US it was not signed by the Federal Reserve or authorized by Congress, generating internal tensions for Donald Trump and Scott Bessent and leaving Argentina without US support in exchange matters.
That same day the inflation of the City of Buenos Aires for December 2025 was known: 2.7%with a strong impact on the food sector, driven by the rise in meat. Everything indicates that national inflation will be between 2.8% and 3.2%as anticipated since mid-December. It is not a minor fact: in the 2004 INDEC methodology, food and beverages explain the 33% of the general index.
