STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 19, 2001
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- State workers in the cash-strapped Buenos Aires province are being paid partly in government bonds and are collecting the one-year bonds at the ATMs of local banks.
According to an Associated Press report, the International Monetary Fund announced plans to provide another $8 bilion in aid, raising to $22 billion the total amount of emergency loans to help stabilize South America's second-largest economy.
Home to a third of Argentina's 36 million people, the Buenos Aires province recently issued the first of an expected $500 million worth of bonds.
Province Finance Minister Jorge Sarghini said public workers such as police, teachers and clerks would be paid in bonds instead of cash for anything more than $740 monthly that they receive. He added that $60 million worth of the bonds, called patacons, had been deposited in the ATM networks of local banks.
The bonds, payable at 7 percent interest at maturity, are expected to be accepted by supermarkets, fast food chains, utility companies and other business.
