Argentina, lead creditors agree on US$4.65b settlement to end debt battle

Buenos Aires

ARGENTINA has agreed to a US$4.65 billion cash payment to its main holdout creditors and will present the deal to Congress this week for a vote which would end 14 years of bitter legal battles and pave the way for its return to global credit markets.

Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay said that he hoped to issue two or three new sovereign bonds on international markets for a total of up to US$15 billion in April if lawmakers were swift in backing the accord. The bonds would finance the payout to all holdout creditors who had reached an agreement, he said.

The vote will be a test of centr…