Argentina’s sovereign debt crises
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2001: Recession wipes out about 28% of Argentina’s GDP. Unemployment soars beyond 22%. Rioting and looting leave 24 people dead

2002, Nov: Argentina defaults on $800 million debt repayment to World Bank. Over 57% of Argentines are now living in poverty

2005-10: Debt is restructured – 97% of all investors agree to new terms including 70% “haircut” – but Wall Street Vulture hedge funds hold out

2012: New York court rules in favour of vulture funds. Argentina has to pay them back at full value, at cost of $4.65 billion

2015: Mauricio Macri (left) is elected president

2019, Dec: Alberto Fernandez (left) becomes president with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as vice- president

Dec: IMF stops providing loans. President Fernando de la Rua (right) resigns. Government defaults on $81.3 billion of sovereign debt

2003, May: Nestor Kirchner (below) wins presidential election

2006: Argentina repays $9.8 billion debt to IMF

2007 Dec: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (left) elected president, succeeding her husband Nestor

2014, Jul: Argentina defaults on about $20 billion worth of debt obligations after failing to make $539 million interest payment

2016: Settlement with vulture funds and other holdouts is reached – Argentina regains access to international debt markets

2018: Argentina’s peso loses 50% of its value against U.S. dollar, leading to $57.4 billion bailout – biggest bailout in IMF’s history

2020, May: Argentina is currently engaged in intense negotiations with its creditors over at least $65 billion in government debt


2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020




Sources: CIGI, Bloomberg, New York Times
Pictures: Associated Press © GRAPHIC NEWS