Business

Argentina plays ball with US courts, but hasn’t lost its fight

Argentina isn’t thumbing its nose at the US courts after all.

A top economic minister told Manhattan federal Judge Thomas Griesa in a letter that Argentina has not taken any action to circumvent paying Paul Singer’s Elliott Management up to $1.3 billion should the country lose its long-running dispute with the hedge fund.

An appeals court recently upheld Griesa’s ruling requiring Argentina to pay Elliott each time it pays other bondholders, who agreed to a writedown several years ago. More than $3 billion is due the restructured bondholders next month, when Elliott is pressing to get its money.

The restructured bonds have tumbled recently on concerns that those creditors would not get paid. This is in spite of speculation that Argentina would figure out a way to pay other bondholders but not Elliott.

Griesa had demanded a letter from a government official saying they would abide by the ruling. The official, Francisco Guillermo Eggers, promised Argentina would not take actions to avoid the ultimate court directive.

However, lawyers for the country refused to back down, saying, “No court can substitute for the political will and self-determination that includes the use of a country’s reserves.”