The Superbond payment was due a month ago - and 30 days after it's due - if no payment is made - the country is considered to be in default.
Our indications were yesterday that an extension of the default period would be worked out with bondholders in exchange for a partial payment of the 46 million dollars that was due a month ago. But, up to newstime - no announcement had been made - so tonight we take the position to be that Belize has defaulted on its Superbond debt.
It was foretold - but still, it is not an entirely desirable state of affairs.
And it doesn't seem to be quite what the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dean Barrow expected when he returned from Houston with his ailing wife today.
The media caught PM Barrow at the airport and here's what he told us about the deadline:..
Jules Vasquez
"Sir, its 5:15pm eastern time and I haven't seen any press release. Has Belize defaulted?"
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"You haven't seen any press release? I don't think we have. I have a conference call with our advisors this morning from Houston, which was at 9am Belize time and we certainly - it appeared making some progress with the bond holders. If things change dramatically between then and now I would not have had an opportunity to be briefed. I am pretty confident that we are in decent shape as far as the negotiations are concern."
Jules Vasquez
"Will a compromise be worked out?"
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"It depends - if you are talking about a compromise immediately or a compromise over the longer term. Actually I would say that I am fairly optimistic that in both cases a compromise will be reached."
Reporter
"Has there been any partial payments for any extension of the deadline?"
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"There has been no partial payment yet. We have been talking about the possibility of a partial payment. It would not be if it is made so that the deadline might be extended. We are prepared to demonstrate some good faith if in turn we get from the bond holders what we consider to be reciprocity and I will say again that the discussions have been proceeding in a fashion that makes me feel there is a good basis for cautious guarded optimism."
This evening, Bloomberg Business News quoted the head of the Debt Restructuring Team Mark Espat as saying, quote, "While the grace period ends, we do not believe this will interrupt negotiations."
The Wall Street Journal reported today that quote, "a default would set up a likely showdown later this year, when analysts expect the government to submit a restructuring offer to investors. Creditors will then choose to participate or pursue litigation against the country in U.S. courts." End quote.
It's a story that we expect to continue to develop this week - and we'll have updates as things progress, or regress.
