New York, Rajab 07, 1437, April 14, 2016, SPA -- Argentina on Wednesday took a decisive step towards ending its years-long billion-dollar debt battle with US hedge funds when a US appeals court lifted an order preventing the nation from paying debt holders and blocking its access to capital markets, according to dpa. Buenos Aires is now free to borrow in international markets in order to settle long-standing debts to the hedge funds, thus bringing a 15-year legal struggle to an end. The dispute stemmed from debts left outstanding in the wake of Argentina's bankruptcy at the end of 2001. Unlike 93 per cent of other affected investors, hedge funds affiliated with New York-based NML Capital refused to settle and sued to retrieve their full amount owed. After a bitter legal battle, the two sides agreed in February on a settlement of 4.65 billion dollars, which is approximately 75 per cent of the original demand. --SPA 00:05 LOCAL TIME 21:05 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w