23:44

On top of the ‘is it, or is it not, a default’ debate, there is the question over whether this constitutes a credit event.

This matters, because a credit event (which isn’t simply what it says on the tin: someone not meeting a creditor demand) triggers payouts on credit default swaps - a kind of insurance contract against a country or company defaulting.

The credit ratings agencies have already said not paying the IMF, which relates to official money and not private bondholders, is not a credit event.



In any case it is up to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) to rule over what is and isn’t a credit event. More on ISDA and all that in this piece from 2012.

