Argentine presidential challenger Mauricio Macri said Tuesday that he will end the country's long debt battle with US hedge funds if he wins the runoff vote on November 22.
Macri's opponent Daniel Scioli is backed by outgoing President Cristina Kirchner, who has refused to compromise with the funds, which have won support in US courts to demand full payment on defaulted bonds.
Kirchner has insisted that by not joining the restructuring program for some $100 billion of debt the country defaulted on in 2001 -- which 93 percent of creditors took part in -- the hedge funds do not deserve repayment.
But the years of stalemate in the case have tightly limited the country's ability to borrow on international markets. And the US court has been able to block its payments to holders of the restructured debt, saying it must pay the hedge funds and a group of other holdout bondholders first.
Macri, who is leading Scioli in the polls, said he had not had contact with any of the parties in the case. However, he said, "I continue to have hope that the government, which created this problem, very poorly negotiating our debt, resolves it before they step down" on December 10.
Asked specifically about what he would do on the debt issue, Macri said he would try "to defend the interests of the Argentine people."
But, he stressed, "to reconnect with the world, we have to begin closing all of the trouble spots that we have."
Macri also said he would lift four-year-old restrictions on the sale of US dollars if he wins the vote, raising an issue that has tightly restricted economic activity but also helped stabilize the currency.
He said that to avoid a sharp devaluation that could come with freed-up dollar sales, "Argentines need to get back to thinking in pesos, and for that we have to reestablish confidence."
"With us, the people are going to trust again, because we will tell the truth. We have a team that will set out clear rules."
Argentine presidential challenger Mauricio Macri said Tuesday that he will end the country’s long debt battle with US hedge funds if he wins the runoff vote on November 22.
Macri’s opponent Daniel Scioli is backed by outgoing President Cristina Kirchner, who has refused to compromise with the funds, which have won support in US courts to demand full payment on defaulted bonds.
Kirchner has insisted that by not joining the restructuring program for some $100 billion of debt the country defaulted on in 2001 — which 93 percent of creditors took part in — the hedge funds do not deserve repayment.
But the years of stalemate in the case have tightly limited the country’s ability to borrow on international markets. And the US court has been able to block its payments to holders of the restructured debt, saying it must pay the hedge funds and a group of other holdout bondholders first.
Macri, who is leading Scioli in the polls, said he had not had contact with any of the parties in the case. However, he said, “I continue to have hope that the government, which created this problem, very poorly negotiating our debt, resolves it before they step down” on December 10.
Asked specifically about what he would do on the debt issue, Macri said he would try “to defend the interests of the Argentine people.”
But, he stressed, “to reconnect with the world, we have to begin closing all of the trouble spots that we have.”
Macri also said he would lift four-year-old restrictions on the sale of US dollars if he wins the vote, raising an issue that has tightly restricted economic activity but also helped stabilize the currency.
He said that to avoid a sharp devaluation that could come with freed-up dollar sales, “Argentines need to get back to thinking in pesos, and for that we have to reestablish confidence.”
“With us, the people are going to trust again, because we will tell the truth. We have a team that will set out clear rules.”
