BUENOS AIRES — Argentina will make its next round of scheduled debt payments, the economy minister said Wednesday as he defended a plan to pay creditors locally and avoid the jurisdiction of a US court that forced the country into default last month.
Under legislation that must be submitted to Congress, Argentina will no longer use the Bank of New York as a trustee for about $30 billion in bonds and will service debt through its own central bank, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said.
The change will allow the country to make $200 million in interest payments scheduled for Sept. 30 to bondholders who voluntarily accept the change, Kicillof said a day after President Cristina Fernandez announced the plan.
The economy minister sought to minimize the scope of the plan, saying it amounted to ‘‘a change of venue, not jurisdiction,’’ but it could allow the country to emerge from default while complicating a bitter legal dispute with US investors.
The proposal is intended as a way around a US court order that blocked Argentina from making $539 million in interest payments on July 30, triggering the country’s second default in 13 years.
US District Judge Thomas Griesa, whose order prevented Bank of New York from distributing Argentina’s interest payments until the country settles a decadelong battle with other creditors, has warned that changing the jurisdiction of payments would have ‘‘serious legal consequences.’’
The new local payments would apply to bondholders who accepted lower-value bonds following the country’s 2001 default and could further complicate the battle with holdout creditors.