Argentina’s new plan to pay debt rattles peso

ARGENTINA’S new plan to skirt US courts and resume payment on defaulted bonds was intended to protect creditors who had participated in two debt restructurings, the economy minister said yesterday, adding it would be “madness” to pay holdout creditors 100 cents on the dollar. The government is sending a bill to Congress to replace its intermediary bank, Bank of New York Mellon, with state-run Banco de la Nación, the latest move in a years-old legal chess game between Argentina and holders of defaulted bonds who have sued for full repayment. Argentina’s black market peso reeled on the news, falling to a record low as the country’s benchmark dollar-denominated bonds due in 2033 slumped more than 2 percent in price. The deadlock with the holdout creditors is squeezing Argentina’s foreign reserves and the availability of dollars in the market by preventing the economically ailing country from issuing international bonds. – Reuters