Bolivia is keeping close tabs on global borrowing conditions and getting its paperwork in order in case pricing turns favorable, Finance Minister Christian Andrés Morales said in Bangkok during the World Bank and IMF annual meetings. "We are getting ready so that if we find a window of opportunity, we can take it," he said, without specifying a target size or acceptable yield.
The nation tapped international investors in May after a four-year pause. That deal priced at 9.75%, and Morales said current funding costs remain too high for a follow up. "The plan was to tap markets in the second half of the year, but international interest-rate conditions worked against us," he said.
The Finance Ministry is updating disclosures for a potential transaction and remains engaged with Deutsche Bank and Santander, the managers from the May issuance, Morales said. Alongside a new sale, the government is assessing a liability-management operation tied to roughly $900 million in notes owned by state pension fund manager Gestora Pública. Those notes sit within a broader stack of roughly $1.5 billion coming due in 2028 and 2030, and officials are considering similar steps for the remainder.
After years of tight dollar liquidity, Bolivia secured a three-year, $1.9 billion arrangement with the IMF, under which $214 million was released right away. The IMF said the program could help open the door to about $4 billion more from other international lenders.
President Rodrigo Paz's administration has moved to rein in expenditures and roll back expensive fuel subsidies, provoking social unrest. Following the IMF deal, the diesel subsidy was eliminated, and Morales said any changes to natural gas subsidies will move more slowly. "We need to head to a new price scheme, but above all accompanying it with social protection," he said. "We will not leave the most vulnerable behind." He added that, for the year's last quarter, Bolivia expects to spend $600 million to $800 million on fuel imports.
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For investors in emerging market debt, this is a watch-and-wait setup. Bolivia wants to issue, but only if rates ease from the 9.75% level it paid in May. The IMF program and possible additional multilateral funding help the near-term financing picture, while any liability management around the 2028 and 2030 maturities could reshape the curve. The bottom line: market conditions will decide timing, structure, and pricing of the next move.
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