Argentina asks US court to block bond payments

Argentina asked a judge in New York to deny a request by holders of $5.4bn in claims on defaulted bonds to block the nation from paying its restructured debt unless it also pays them.

Argentina yesterday asked US District Judge Thomas Griesa to deny 37 so-called me-too requests filed by 526 investors, claiming it could be forced to pay at least $10bn in additional claims.

“No country the size of Argentina could afford to pay that amount without subjecting its economy and citizens to an unacceptable degree of catastrophic risk,” it said in court papers.