A U.S. federal judge said that he is prepared to lift an injunction that has prevented Argentina from returning to the international capital markets, paving the way for a potential settlement with bondholders who have battled Argentina for years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The decision is welcome news for Argentina and President Mauricio Macri, who has made resolving the long-running dispute a priority. A group of U.S. bondholders, led by billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp., have been wrangling with Argentina over payment on its defaulted government debt. Argentina has been effectively barred from raising money in the international bond markets since its default in 2001 on more than $80 billion in government bonds, the largest sovereign default at the time. The new administration views a global bond offering as crucial for raising capital to stimulate an economy mired in recession. “The injunctions, once appropriate to address the Republic’s recalcitrance, can no longer be justified,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa wrote Friday in his ruling.
