Nauru's government will have to wait another week before it has any chance of accessing the money in its frozen bank accounts.
On Friday, the government won a court case against the US-based funds management company Firebird, which last week had the country's bank accounts frozen pending a garnishing order.
Nauru challenged the freeze at the Supreme Court in New South Wales, saying that as a sovereign nation it was immune from the orders to freeze the accounts.
Justice Peter Young agreed, and gave Firebird a week to appeal the decision before the freeze would be lifted.
Aid money from both Australia and New Zealand is included in the frozen accounts.
Nauru's finance minister David Adeang says that without access to the money, government services including the hospital, electricity supply and services for Australia's asylum seeker detention centre will be unable to operate.
Mr Adeang says he is meeting with lawyers to try and determine how the government can access its money.
Nauru is trying to overturn a decision that froze the country's bank accounts. Photo: AFP
