Argentina has reached a preliminary agreement with a group of Italian investors who owned the country's defaulted bonds, Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay announced Tuesday, according to dpa. Under the agreement, Argentina will pay 1.35 billion dollars on the bonds - 150 per cent of the 900-million-dollar face value. The creditors had demanded 2.5 billion dollars including interest on the securities, which were part of the 2001 debt default by the Argentine government. President Mauricio Macri, who took office in December, is seeking to settle lawsuits with holdout bondholders who have refused Argentina's past attempts to restructure the 95-billion-dollar default. The lingering lawsuits have impaired the government's plans to again borrow in global capital markets. Most bondholders accepted past debt restructuring offers, in which Argentina offered about 30 cents on the dollar. Previous governments in Buenos Aires have refused to negotiate with holdouts. The agreement with the Italian group is the first between Argentina and remaining bondholders. The deal must be approved by the investor group and the Argentine parliament. A larger US-based group, led by New York hedge fund NML Capital, is still seeking a resolution with Argentina.
