OREANDA-NEWS. Argentina's new government presented a $6.5bn offer to creditors that have long refused to restructure defaulted debt, a potential harbinger of the shale-rich country?s return to international capital markets.

The offer, which would represent an approximately 25pc discount for so-called holdout bondholders who had US court sentences in their favor worth around $9bn, could help to end a more than decade-long legal battle that was born out of the country's record-breaking 2001 default on almost $100bn in debt.

The festering dispute pushed the country into technical default again in 2014.

The new offer marks the latest effort by the new center-right government of president Mauricio Macri to restore global financial ties and attract more foreign investment to key economic sectors such as energy and infrastructure. Government advisers have long described a potential settlement with the small group of holdout hedge funds as a key step to boost investment.

US treasury secretary Jacob Lew spoke by telephone with Argentina's finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay on 7 February and "commended Argentina's good faith efforts to resolve this long-standing dispute." The call marked the latest sign of warming relations between Buenos Aires and Washington, less than a month after Lew told Prat-Gay that the US would lift a veto on most multilateral lending to Argentina.

US court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack described the offer presented on 5 February as "an historic breakthrough" that "will allow Argentina to return to the global financial markets to raise much-needed capital."

Two of the six leading holdout funds have agreed in principle to the deal, although the two funds that launched the litigation against Argentina, Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital, have yet to sign on.

Before any offer can be completed, Argentina?s congress needs to repeal a law that forbids the government from offering creditors any terms that are better than those received by those who agreed to the 2005 and 2010 restructurings.

Argentina?s Vaca Muerta formation in Neuquen province is among world?s leading shale plays, but most oil companies have been reluctant to invest because of above-ground risks and costs.