BUENOS AIRES, Argentina?More than two-thirds of Argentina's creditors have accepted a deal with Buenos Aires ending their long-running debt dispute, the Economy Ministry said Monday.

Heralding Argentina's return to the financial mainstream, the ministry said 70.2 percent of creditors who held debt which Argentina defaulted on had agreed to the latest restructuring deal, worth $18.3 billion.

That topped the preliminary news announced last month of a 66 percent acceptance rate, worth over $12 billion.

Buenos Aires has offered to swap defaulted bonds at a third of their nominal value in a bid to restore its international credit standing.

Including a similar 2005 offer, over 92 percent of debt holders have now accepted restructured offers, but holdouts remain and could yet block Argentina's efforts.

Argentina defaulted on over $90 billion in sovereign debt in 2001, in the country's worst financial crisis.