Interim Argentine president vows to suspend foreign debt payment
Argentina's interim president says he will suspend the country's foreign debt payment.
Moments after Adolfo Rodriguez Saa was sworn in he vowed Argentines would have priority over crippling debt payments.
He was taking his oath in Congress, where lawmakers capped a 15-hour all-night session naming him interim president.
"Let's take the bull by the horns. We are going to talk about the foreign debt," said Rodriguez Saa, adding, "the Argentine state will suspend the payment of the foreign debt."
He stressed that this did not mean Argentina would permanently shun its obligations, which now amount to $132bn.
Meanwhile, he said, the money saved from the payments would be diverted into job creation and social development programs.
The announcement drew raucous cheers from a packed congressional gallery.
Rodriguez Saa, who is Argentina's longest-serving governor from the province of San Luis, is to stay in office until a March 3 election.
