Ivory Coast Unable to Pay Debt for Rest of Year

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, said it’s seeking “a complete reassessment” of $2.3 billion of Eurobonds after ruling out payments this year because of damage to the economy from post-election fighting.

The country missed payments since civil war broke out after November elections as Alassane Ouattara, internationally recognized as the victor, was locked in a political standoff with Laurent Gbagbo until April. The government owes holders of its Eurobonds interest payments totaling $58 million, after not paying coupons due in January and June.

“The severity of the shock to the economy in 2011 requires a complete reassessment of Cote d’Ivoire’s payment capacity,” Finance Minister Charles Koffi Diby said in a statement e-mailed today by Lazard & Co., which is advising the West African nation. The government “undertakes to resume contractual payments to its bondholders beginning 2012,” he said.

The dollar-denominated notes due 2032 fell to their lowest since April 4, the week before Gbagbo was captured by the Ivorian Republican Forces militia in Abidjan, the commercial capital. The bonds dropped 2.4 percent to 50.40 cents on the dollar as of 2:28 p.m. in London, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg, extending declines from this year’s peak on May 11 to 14 percent after the government said it would not make last month’s payment. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-12/ivory-coast-says-its-unable-to-make-payments-on-external-debt-in-2011.html