Argentine creditors appeal debt dispute ruling

A group of Argentine creditors involved in the country's multi-billion-dollar debt dispute said Thursday they will appeal a US judge's ruling allowing Buenos Aires to repay its restructured debt.

The group, which calls itself the Association of Victims of the Default and Devaluation, told newspaper La Nacion they will appeal the decision by federal Judge Thomas Griesa to lift his 2012 injunctions barring Argentina from paying creditors who agreed to a write-down.

The dispute stems from Argentina's 2001 default on nearly $100 billion in debt, which touched off 15 years of bitter legal wrangling between the government, creditors who agreed to take steep losses and those who insisted on full payment.

Griesa made the ruling after new Argentine President Mauricio Macri's administration struck a $6.5-billion deal with most of the holdouts, including the two US hedge funds suing Buenos Aires.

That, he said Wednesday, made his previous ban on repaying other creditors "detrimental to the public interest."

The injunctions had effectively excluded Argentina from international finance -- which Griesa decided was counter-productive, since the cash-strapped government will need to raise money to uphold its end of the deal.

But the Argentine creditors' group, which is still seeking to leverage a better deal, said the injunctions should be reinstated.

"The government is making a proposal without having spoken with those who should have been part of it," said spokesman Horacio Vazquez.

Griesa, who appeared to expect an appeal, warned Wednesday that the injunctions "cannot be allowed to be used as a tool for leverage in negotiations" with remaining holdouts.

The appellants have two weeks to make their case, after which Griesa's ruling takes effect.