The government of western Argentine province La Rioja said Monday that it skipped a payment on its 9.75% 2028 green bond for a second time this year, as it continues to negotiate with bondholders to restructure the notes.
The latest payment fell due August 24, the province said in a securities filing.
“The payment of capital and interest on the international bonds … will not be paid given that negotiations are underway with creditors for restructuring the debt,” the government said.
The missed payment amounted to $26 million, according to local press reports.
In February, La Rioja failed to make a $16 million capital payment on the bonds and then on the interest, arguing that a decision by the federal government to scale back the sharing of tax revenue with provincial governments had made it impossible to do so.
Earlier this month August 15, the Ad Hoc Committee of Province of La Rioja Bondholders said it moved for summary judgement in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York against La Rioja for failing to resolve the February default. Bondholders argued that the province can afford to pay because it has a budget surplus and earned $171 million in December 2022 on the sale of a wind park financed with the bonds, which have $318 million worth of principal outstanding.
La Rioja previously defaulted on the green bonds in 2020 as Argentina’s economy tanked with the onset of the pandemic and went on to restructure them the following year.