Cristina Fernandez, president of Argentina. - File

Argentina will pay its entire US$6.7 billion debt to the Paris Club of lending nations in a bid to shore up sagging investor confidence, President Cristina Fernandez announced Tuesday.

The payment "confirms one more time Argentina's willingness to meet its international obligations", Fernandez told a news conference.

The move will tap some of the US$47.2 billion in foreign currency reserves that Argentina has accumulated in recent years, she said.

Largest default in history

Argentina defaulted on about US$95 billion in bonds in 2001, the largest default in history. Former President Nestor Kirchner restructured most of that debt in 2005 and repaid a US$9.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2006. He left the Paris Club debt outstanding, prompting criticism from international lenders.

That decision - and more recent concerns that a shrinking budget surplus may keep Argentina from servicing its current debt - have prompted analysts to increasingly question Argentine solvency.

The Paris Club is an umbrella group of wealthy creditor nations including the United States, France, Germany, Japan and Russia.