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The United Nations' resolution to provide a regulatory framework for debt restructuring is a "clear show of support" for Argentina in its ongoing debt dispute, an Argentine senior official said on Wednesday.
The resolution to negotiate and adopt a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes was approved on Tuesday during a UN General Assembly session.
The resolution, drafted by Bolivia on behalf of the Group of 77 developing nations and China, was adopted with 124 in favor, 11 against and 41 abstentions.
"If 124 United Nations member countries have backed Argentina, it means Argentina is right in its claims" that speculation has been used to make huge profits on secondary debt by the hedge funds, the so-called "vulture funds" by Argentina, the Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said at a press conference.
The Argentina's Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Timerman agreed, saying "the world has spoken and it said 'the status quo has to change'."
After more than 10 years' effort in the UN, the national debt was not the sole concern of the International Monetary Fund, Timerman said.
"We decided to change the future to prevent more countries from eternally paying, through hunger and misery, for the exorbitant privileges of the owners of the vulture funds," he added.
Among the countries that voted against the resolution were Britain, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia and the United States, where the legal dispute between Argentina and the hedge funds played out in a New York court.
The hedge funds that snapped up Argentina's bonds on the cheap after the country's 2002 default and are suing the country for full sum of over 1.6 billion U.S. dollars, that led to the Buenos Aires government defaulting again in July.
