Argentina is poised to return to international capital markets after a 15-year ban as it finally reached agreement with a group of creditors led by…

Argentina is poised to return to international capital markets after a 15-year ban as it finally reached agreement with a group of creditors led by Paul Singer’s Elliott Management

The deal, which needs approval by Argentine lawmakers, is to pay $4.653bn to settle all claims with four “holdouts” that refused to restructure debt after the country’s 2001 default

During the 15-year legal battle creditors have attempted to embargo everything from navy frigates to satellite launches to claw back the money a New York court said they were owed from defaulted bonds

Argentina suffered a second technical default in 2014 after New York judge Thomas Griesa said it was forbidden from servicing its restructured debt abroad without paying the holdout creditors first

The agreement is a victory for Mauricio Macri, the Argentine president, who took office on December 10, after he made ending the legal battle against holdout funds one of his campaign promises

Elliott welcomed the agreement. “We are hopeful the completed negotiations

cleared the way for other plaintiffs to reach satisfactory resolutions as well,” it said

To lift the financial blockade on Argentina, the country’s congress must approve the deal and lift two laws that prevent the country from paying creditors who had rejected the 2005 and 2010 restructurings. Analysts and allies of Mr Macri are optimistic that they have the necessary votes to pass the measures once Congress resumes today

After issuing decision after decision against Argentina, the judicial tables began to turn in favour of the country last month when the new government offered to pay about $6.5bn in cash to the holdouts for claims of $9bn

“Put simply, President Macri’s election changed everything,” wrote Judge Griesa on February 19 after he agreed in principle to lift the injunction

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Mr Macri’s predecessor, had refused to negotiate with the holdouts, frequently referring to them as “vultures”

The deal with the four biggest creditors means that agreements in principle have been reached with bondholders who hold more than 85 per cent of the claims against Argentina that have favourable rulings in US courts, according to mediator Daniel Pollack

Alfonso Prat-Gay, the Argentine finance minister, has said the country plans to issue $15bn in debt to fund the payments without dipping into reserves. As part of the agreement, the holdouts agree not to try to interfere with that issuance, Mr Pollack said. That is expected to be the first of several issuances by Argentina, provinces and private companies

“This is the equivalent of a giant albatross being lifted from Argentina’s neck and comes just in the nick of time,” said Brett Diment, head of emerging market debt at Aberdeen Asset Management