The proposals included issuing new bonds bearing a lower 7 per cent interest coupon backed by the government’s tax revenues

The proposals included issuing new bonds bearing a lower 7 per cent interest coupon backed by the government’s tax revenues. The current coupon is 15 per cent, meaning the move will cut $4bn from interest payments next year. Some investors fear this amounts to default on the debts.Potentially this would be the biggest in history, dwarfing Mexico’s “tequila crisis” in 1995. The default would also be twice the size of the Russian default in 1998.”This is something new for the financial community in terms of order of magnitude,” said Mauro Leos, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.

“It is unique in every respect.”It is not clear so far if any UK banks hold the bonds. Much of the bonds are thought to be in foreign hands.Argentina faces debt payments of around $2bn this month alone while tax revenues in October totalled a little more than $3.5bn, a fall of over 11 per cent year on year.By restructuring its debt, Argentina is seeking to free up cash to revive its $280bn economy after efforts to cut spending have failed to shore up finances and spark growth. The government runs the risk that default will undermine confidence, provoke a run on the banks and force the nation to scrap its decade-old fixed exchange rate with the US dollar.. Millennium & Copthorne, the four-star hotels group, has cut 500 jobs and warned of lower than expected second-half profits following a sharp fall in revenue in its American hotels after the terrorist attacks in September. The cuts will be divided equally between the United States and the UK where the main offices are in London and Horley, Sussex.

Millennium & Copthorne, the four-star hotels group, has cut 500 jobs and warned of lower than expected second-half profits following a sharp fall in revenue in its American hotels after the terrorist attacks in September. The cuts will be divided equally between the United States and the UK where the main offices are in London and Horley, Sussex.
Of the group’s 86 hotels, 22 hotels are in the US and the bulk of its American profits come from four hotels in New York. In the 16 days ended 30 September, revenue in the US has fallen by 61 per cent compared with the same period last year. Trade has since picked up a little though US revenue in the first three weeks of October was still down 39 per cent on last year.One of the group’s hotels is out of action altogether as it is within the restricted access zone near the World Trade Centre site. The Millennium Hilton could remain closed for two years, the company said. Initial insurance payments of $7.5m have already been received.The knock-on effects of fewer American tourists have also hit the group’s operations on other markets.