No deal may cause Argentinian default

Argentina has failed to strike a deal to avert its second default in 12 years after talks with hold-out investors ended without settlement

The so-called ‘hold-outs’ are US hedge funds that bought debt on the cheap and have never agreed to restructuring. Last June, a US judge ruled that Argentina was liable to pay the hold-outs the equivalent of 967 million Euros they were demanding. He also blocked interest payments to the restructured bond holders unless it also paid what Argentina’s government calls the ‘vulture funds’.

After the last-minute talks appeared to be going nowhere, the court-appointed mediator Daniel A. Pollack confirmed that a default by Argentina was imminent.

A fresh default is not expected to affect Argentina’s economy as it did more than a decade ago, when dozens were killed in street protests, millions of people lost their jobs.