Argentina's President Javier Milei speaks during the America Business Forum at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, U.S. November 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Argentina announced on Friday the tender for a four-year dollar bond governed by local law as President Javier Milei's administration continues to test the waters for an eventual return to international capital markets.

The tender for the so-called Bonar, with a 6.50% coupon, will take place December 10, Argentina's Economy Ministry said. The local law issuance, maturing November 30, 2029, does not need the approval of Congress. There were no details on the size of the offering.

Milei's government is seeking to rebuild investor confidence and bolster depleted foreign currency reserves after years of overspending that left the country locked out of global capital markets. Argentina, a serial defaulter, most recently missed payments on its international debt in 2020.

"We estimate that this bond could be priced around 86, with a yield of approximately 10.5%-11%, given that it operates under local law," local financial advisory Max Capital wrote in a client note.

It added that the issuance in practice functions similarly to auctions in local pesos.

Regaining access to international financing has been one of Milei's top priorities since taking office in 2023, with Argentine companies and provinces, including Santa Fe province earlier this week, tapping markets as investor confidence grows.

Argentina must meet hefty debt obligations in the first month of 2026, totaling around $4.5 billion, as well as maturities this month of roughly 40 billion pesos ($27.68 million), traders said.

Investor appetite for Argentine assets has strengthened since Milei's party scored a decisive victory in midterm legislative elections in October, when voters handed him a mandate to press ahead with sweeping economic reforms.

In a statement on social media on Friday, the Economy Ministry said the country was launching a "new strategy aimed at refinancing its dollar capital maturities without affecting the process of strengthening the central bank's balance sheet."

Argentina's treasury is "seeking to expand its financial objectives to cover dollar debt maturities without affecting the central bank's net reserves," it added.

The ministry cited a "strong compression of dollar bond interest rates" resulting from Milei's economic program and the outcome of the October election.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, Lucinda Elliott and Rodrigo Campos; editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Paul Simao)