Investors cheer Argentina's swift offer to holdouts

Buenos Aires

INVESTORS on Saturday praised the speed with which new Argentine President Mauricio Macri made a cash offer to holders of defaulted bonds aimed at ending a long and bitter dispute that has strangled government finances.

A financial markets pariah since defaulting on a record US$100 billion in 2002, Argentina proposed on Friday a US$6.5 billion payment to settle the legal battle and said two of the leading six "holdouts" in the case had already accepted the discounted terms.