LatinNews Daily - 30 November 2022

* El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has issued a second offer to repurchase sovereign debt bonds maturing in 2023 and 2025, setting the maximum for the repurchase at US$74m. The 2023 and 2025 bond offerings were US$800m each. President Bukele’s announcement comes amid continued concerns that El Salvador could default on its debt amid the impact of the government’s decision to adopt the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender last year. In September the government announced a voluntary cash buyback of US$360m for its 2023 and 2025 bonds, having proposed a US$560m transaction in July. Bukele tweeted that the September buyback was “was so successful that we have decided to launch another offer for the remainder of the 2023 and 2025 bonds.” Indicative of these default concerns, in September international credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded El Salvador citing the potential risk of default. Also that month, S&P Global maintained El Salvador’s “CCC-plus” rating but said that it could cut its already negative credit rating within six to 18 months if it does not make “adequate progress” on debt reduction.

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