MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish-led consortium said on Friday it had struck a deal resolving a financial dispute over its expansion of the Panama Canal, which handles five per cent of world maritime trade.

The multi-billion-dollar project to build extra locks on the 80-kilometre waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ground has been plagued by disagreements over who will pay for an estimated US$1.6 billion (S$2.02 billion) in cost overruns.