Argentina warns of default on debt repayments at end of June

ARGENTINA’S government warned yesterday that it could not afford to pay its creditors at the end of this month, threatening a default after the US Supreme Court opted not to hear the country’s case again earlier this week.

The decision left the government with a $1.33bn (£780m) bill to pay at the end of the month to hold-out investors who did not accept writedowns during the country’s efforts to restructure its debt.

Previous rulings mean that the debts must be repaid before other creditors are reimbursed.

The country’s finance ministry said that the removal of precautionary measures by a US court of appeals earlier in the week demonstrated “a lack of willingness to negotiate” on the issue.

Earlier in the week, Argentina’s economy minister, Axel Kicillof, called the hedge funds involved “vultures”. The country’s long standing complaint is that some investors picked up the bonds at rock-bottom prices after the country defaulted in 2001-02.