Rato Defends Holdouts

As Argentine and IMF officials met in Washington to discuss a possible refinancing of Argentina´s $12 billion debt to the Fund, IMF director Rodrigo Rato said Argentina must find a solution for bondholders that did not participate in the county´s debt swap. In February 76 percent of investors holding defaulted Argentine debt agreed to a swap for new bonds. A defiant President Nestor Kirchner said Argentina “won’t cede anything.”