Argentina’s gross domestic product expanded by 2.9% in 2017, and grew 0.7% in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, a treasury ministry source said, bouncing back from a 2.2% contraction the prior year, Reuters reported. The annual growth figure means Argentina will not have to make a coupon payment on growth-linked bonds known as GDP warrants this year, the source said. Growth of more than 3% would have triggered a payment. Payments on the warrants, issued as part of debt exchanges in 2005 and 2010 following Argentina’s 2001 default, could have totaled as much as $3 billion. Latin America’s No. 3 economy could still make payments in future years if growth exceeds 3%. The government’s 2018 budget estimates growth of 3.5% this year. The economy grew 4.2% in the third quarter compared with the third quarter of 2016 and expanded 2.5% in the first nine months of the year, according to the most recent data from Argentina’s Indec government statistics agency.
