Argentina celebrates bond payoff as end of era

BUENOS AIRES—Bond payoffs are supposed to be boring, but Argentina’s president is celebrating today’s final US$2.3 payment on a bond given to people whose savings were confiscated a decade ago, suggesting it is a lesson for European countries now mired in foreign debt. The nation’s economic disaster a decade ago left thousands with a grim choice after the government seized their dollar-denominated deposits to stop runs on the banks. They could switch to devalued pesos and regain access to what was left of their savings, or accept a piece of paper promising to repay the money in dollars over the next 10 years. Few had any faith in the government’s promises back then.  (AP)