Councilman Álvaro Grau described as a "veiled threat" the letter sent to the Asunción municipal government by José Montero, representative of the municipal bondholders, in which he accepts payment of more than G. 90 billion for the overdue bond debt but reserves for creditors the right to future legal action.
According to Grau, the document accepts a two-stage payment proposal — G. 50,941,301,370 between May 13 and 22 and a balance of G. 41,101,917,808 with a maximum maturity date of September 15, 2026 — with the commitment not to initiate legal proceedings to collect the overdue debt until March 31, 2027, only if the schedule is fully met.
The councilman criticized the "express reservation of rights" clause, which establishes that partial payments do not imply waiver, novation, settlement, remission, or extinction of creditors' rights. The text provides for the application of default interest based on the weighted average of consumer loan rates with terms exceeding one year, equivalent to 2.001% per month (24.02% per year), in addition to legal expenses, costs and fees, and reserves the right to apply the "maximum maximum legal rate" in the event of litigation.
Grau stated that the creditors are seeking to charge "interest on interest" that could reach 30%, based on average consumer rates in the financial system, a claim he called "outrageous." The creditors base their position on Article 44 of Law No. 489/95, the Organic Law of the Central Bank of Paraguay, and Law No. 2339/03, arguing that default interest applies to the balance of the overdue debt and that there is no capitalization of interest.
For the councilman, the municipality's absolute priority should be the completion of storm drainage works in the neighborhoods of San Pablo, Santo Domingo, and Manorá, where residents can no longer drive into their homes due to excavations on Nuestra Señora del Carmen and Presbítero Justo Román streets. Grau warned that, under the current financial management, the works will cost triple the original amount, since the money from the bond issuance "disappeared" and it will be necessary to pay construction certificates, the issuance capital, and the interest, which doubles the capital.
The current administration of Mayor Luis Bello is resorting to tax revenue to honor payments to the construction companies responsible for carrying out the drainage works.