CARACAS, Monday August 11, 2008 | Update
EL UNIVERSAL
The Argentinean press continued highlighting the dramatic
collapse last week of the Argentinean debt bonds. Daily newspaper
Clarín headline read "Chávez maneuver with Argentinean
bonds sank the market," referring to the operations in Venezuela
involving such titles.
The Argentine section of JP Morgan's Emerging Market Bond
Index Plus (EMBI+), a key indicator of investor's aversion
to risk, plunged significantly. Argentina's spreads widened
more than 43 basis points to 727 basis points whereas total
yield fell 4.86 percent, Reuters reported.
On Friday, Argentina confirmed the sale of USD 1.46 billion
in dollar-denominated Boden 2015 bonds. Venezuela paid USD
1 billion in cash, with an interest rate of 15 percent.
"The Chávez Administration resold the Argentine bonds
to Venezuelan banks, which dumped the paper on the international
market, at any price. Selling the bonds was the way to realize
profits from exchange gains the Venezuelan government offers
to the players in this operation," Clarín said.
"Traders wonder what the sense of the operations is, if the
buyer does nothing but clouding the market," the Argentinean
newspaper added.
Translated by Gerardo
Cárdenas
11:00 AM. Economy. Based on the official data, more and more families failed to get out of poverty in 2008; the exclusion status of more people moved faster and fewer people are on their way to overcome this situation. According to the data provided by the official National Statistics Institute (INE), last year the poorest homes in the country recorded an average monthly income of USD 401.82, whereas the food basket amounted to 417.77