Argentina raises 1.6 bln USD via bonds

BUENOS AIRES, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Argentina issued national treasury bonds on Monday to raise 44.955 billion pesos (about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars) on the local financial market.

The bonds come due in 2020 with an annual interest of 26 percent. They will have twice payouts in May and November every year, according to the finance ministry.

Argentina has secured a 50-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne recently announced the country needed another 8 billion dollars for the 2019 budget.

The new bonds were issued a day before nearly 19 billion dollars in short-term debt bonds (called Lebacs) come due.