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       T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                 L A T I N   A M E R I C A

          Thursday, December 24, 2020, Vol. 21, No. 257

                           Headlines



A R G E N T I N A

BANCO HIPOTECARIO: S&P Withdraws 'CCC+' Issuer Credit Rating


B R A Z I L

AZUL AIRLINES: Plans to Operate at 90% Domestic Capacity in Dec.
BRAZIL: IDB OKs $100MM Loan for Southern Region's Recovery Phase


D O M I N I C A N   R E P U B L I C

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Electricity Pact Languishes


P E R U

PERU: IDB OKs $400MM Loan to Boost Economic Recovery


X X X X X X X X

LATAM: IDB Mobilizes $1 Billion for COVID-19 Vaccine Financing

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A R G E N T I N A
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BANCO HIPOTECARIO: S&P Withdraws 'CCC+' Issuer Credit Rating
------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings withdrew its global scale issuer credit ratings
on Banco Hipotecario at the issuer's request. At the time of the
withdrawal, the long-term ratings on Banco Hipotecario were 'CCC+'
with a stable outlook. Like other entities in the Argentine
financial system, S&P's ratings on Banco Hipotecario were limited
by the sovereign rating on Argentina (CCC+/Stable/C). S&P rarely
rates financial institutions higher than the sovereign where they
operate, because we consider it unlikely that these institutions
would remain unaffected by developments in domestic economies.

The stable outlook on Banco Hipotecario mirrors that on Argentina,
reflecting the balance between risks stemming from macroeconomic
woes--high inflation, low growth, large structural fiscal
imbalances, high financing needs, and ongoing pressure in the
foreign exchange markets--and a favorable near-term amortization
profile.




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B R A Z I L
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AZUL AIRLINES: Plans to Operate at 90% Domestic Capacity in Dec.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Lachlan Williams at Rio Times Online report that confirming what
has been disclosed in a meeting with investors and analysts, Azul
publicly disclosed on December 16, a relevant fact detailing the
capacity projections in its flights for December and the first
quarter of 2021.

The airline expects to operate at 90% of its domestic capacity this
month, while total capacity should reach 70%. In the first three
months of 2021, the domestic flight offer should reach 100%, while
in total it could reach 85%, according to Rio Times Online.

Azul is Brazil's No. 3 airline and is controlled by David Neeleman,
the founder of Jet Blue.

                          *    *    *

As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on July
16, 2020 Natalia Scalzaretto at The Brazilian Report said that in
a
new blow to the already embattled aviation sector, Azul Airlines is
said to have laid off more than 1,000 airport maintenance workers,
according to trade union sources heard by the Brazilian press.
They estimate that the layoffs may prompt Azul to abandon
operations in 27 cities.

The company has not confirmed how many workers will be dismissed
but says that roughly 5.000 jobs were saved due to agreements with
union, employing changes such as reduced hours.  Another option
would be to resort to an aid package from Brazil's National
Development Bank, which is under negotiations.

BRAZIL: IDB OKs $100MM Loan for Southern Region's Recovery Phase
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The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recently approved a
program to support the resilience of the Southern Region of Brazil
in the recovery phase of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis,
in a multisectoral manner.

The project will provide credits to municipalities and eligible
companies to develop investments in four critical areas against
COVID-19: labor market, tourism, health and sanitation, through the
financing lines of the Banco Regional do Desenvolvimento do Extremo
Sul (BRDE). The investments will respond to eligibility criteria
that address the challenges identified in these four areas and the
cross-cutting areas of Gender and Diversity and Climate Change.

COVID-19 intensified the challenges and barriers that the Southern
Region of Brazil already faced, mainly in terms of financing gaps
at the local level, with immediate repercussions on economic
activity, the labor market, and the tourism sector. Faced with
these challenges, the Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento do Extremo
Sul (BRDE) and the IDB identified the need to support the
resilience of the Southern Region with financial mechanisms that
stimulate liquidity for municipalities and companies through a
Global Credit Program with BRDE.

The project hopes to benefit the populations of the municipalities
of the three states of the Southern Region of Brazil (which has
29.9 million inhabitants), through projects that promote resilience
in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.

The IDB loan of $100 million will be disbursed over a five-year
period, with a 25-year repayment term and an interest rate based on
LIBOR.

                          About Brazil

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and third largest
in the Americas.  Jair Bolsonaro is the current president, having
been sworn in on Jan. 1, 2019.

S&P Global Ratings affirmed on December 14, 2020, its 'BB-/B'
long-and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit
ratings on Brazil. The outlook on the long-term ratings remains
stable.

Fitch Ratings' credit rating for Brazil stands at 'BB-' with a
negative outlook (November 2020). Moody's credit rating for Brazil
was last set at Ba2 with stable outlook (April 2018). DBRS's credit
rating for Brazil is BB (low) with stable outlook (March 2018).

As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America, S&P
Global Ratings' stable outlook assumes that timely implementation
of fiscal adjustment and modest economic recovery will help
preserve market confidence and adequate funding conditions for the
government in local markets in the next two years, despite a
sustained increase in the debt burden.




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D O M I N I C A N   R E P U B L I C
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Electricity Pact Languishes
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Dominican Today reports that the Economic and Social Council (CES)
announced that the Electricity Pact will not be signed this year,
as President Luis Abinader had indicated last October.

"Despite all the efforts made by the Economic and Social Council
and the Government's Electric Cabinet, the signing of the
Electricity Pact will take place at the beginning of next year,
with the commitment to specify in a timely manner the date for the
signing of this important and valuable pact envisaged by the
National Development Strategy," the CES said in a press release,
according to Dominican Today.

It adds that after the call made by Abinader in his speech on
October 8, 2020, the Executive Commission and the Plenary of the
Economic and Social Council expressed their decision to sign the
Electricity Pact before the end of this year, the report notes.

                     About Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the
island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. Capital city Santo
Domingo has Spanish landmarks like the Gothic Catedral Primada de
America dating back 5 centuries in its Zona Colonial district.

Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona is the current president of the
nation.

The Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America reported in April 2019
that the Dominican Today related that Juan Del Rosario of the UASD
Economic Faculty cited a current economic slowdown for the
Dominican Republic and cautioned that if the trend continues,
growth would reach only 4% by 2023. Mr. Del Rosario said that if
that happens, "we'll face difficulties in meeting international
commitments."

An ongoing concern in the Dominican Republic is the inability of
participants in the electricity sector to establish financial
viability for the system.

Standard & Poor's, on December 4, 2020, affirmed its 'BB-'
long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on
the Dominican Republic. The outlook remains negative. S&P also
affirmed its 'B' short-term
sovereign credit ratings.

The negative outlook reflects S&P's view that it could lower the
ratings on the Dominican Republic over the next six to 18 months,
given the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the
sovereign's already vulnerable fiscal and external profiles, as
well as the potential for a weaker-than-expected economic
recovery.

Moody's credit rating for Dominican Republic was last set at Ba3
with stable outlook (July 2017). Fitch's credit rating for
Dominican Republic was last reported at BB- with negative outlook
(May 8, 2020).



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P E R U
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PERU: IDB OKs $400MM Loan to Boost Economic Recovery
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Peru will boost competitiveness and economic recovery to improve
the business environment as well as investment and innovation of
micro and small enterprises (MSEs) with a $400 million loan
approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The program aims to promote the formalization and digitalization of
MSEs and increase their access to financing to uphold the
continuity of private production and investment. In addition,
public programs for innovation will be aligned with the country’s
productive challenges and with the development of a
venture-capital-oriented private industry.

The current operation –the first of two operations under the
Programmatic Policy-Based Loan modality– aims to close the
digital technology usage and gender gaps.

These gaps don’t differ much by geographical region or users’
age, but they do tend to shrink as the level of informal workers’
education improves. In this sense, flexible, easy to access
training sessions capable of producing short-term results, such as
bootcamps, can be the ideal tools to support the country’s
current needs.    

Peru’s economy is characterized by a high degree of productive
duality – microenterprises’ productivity is 3 percent that of
large corporations, whereas the ratio for small and mid-sized
enterprises is 59.1 percent. These gaps are reflected in the
pronounced vulnerability displayed by MSEs during the pandemic.
Additionally, the country has a high level of business informality,
reaching 1.5 million enterprises, or 40 percent of total companies,
accounting for 18 percent of GDP. This elevated degree of
informality blocks MSEs’ access to markets and to the public
resources they need to develop themselves.      

The program’s beneficiaries will be formal MSEs with access to
economic recovery programs, early-stage risk-capital investment
funds, and those entrepreneurs receiving investments from such
funds. Formal companies involved in public programs for
mission-oriented R&D, as well as MSEs participating in the
corporate digitalization program will also benefit.

The $400 million IDB credit is of a contingent nature and has an
amortization term of up to 20 years and an interest rate based on
LIBOR.



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X X X X X X X X
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LATAM: IDB Mobilizes $1 Billion for COVID-19 Vaccine Financing
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced that it will
mobilize $1 billion to help Latin American and Caribbean countries
acquire and distribute COVID-19 vaccines. The funds will complement
$1.2 billion in resources that the IDB has committed in 2020, as
well as other funds already programmed for 2021, to help countries
save lives through public-health measures, such as more effective
testing and tracing, and better clinical management of COVID-19
patients.  

"We are expanding our support to help Latin American and Caribbean
countries ensure timely access to safe and effective COVID-19
vaccines," said IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone. "The coming
months will be critical to altering the course of the pandemic and
supporting the recovery of our region, which is why we are being
bold and proactive."

The IDB will support countries in three main areas: the purchase of
vaccine doses through multilateral efforts, such as the COVAX
Facility;  institutional strengthening to help countries develop
effective vaccine deployment mechanisms; and investment to build
immunization capacity and finance operational costs. The Bank will
work closely with other institutions, including the Pan-American
Health Organization.

In addition, the IDB is reiterating its call for Latin American and
Caribbean governments to redouble efforts to prepare national
deployment and vaccination plans. The IDB stands ready to help
ensure their successful implementation throughout the region.


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S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless
Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C.,
USA, Marites O. Claro, Joy A. Agravante, Rousel Elaine T.
Fernandez, Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A.
Chapman, Editors.

Copyright 2020.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2746.

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