Argentina says it will not revamp debt restructuring plans

[DuctapeFatwa]

Argentina will not alter its debt restructuring plans, a top official said Saturday, one day after the White House announced plans to urge Buenos Aires to take "difficult decisions" to tackle its debt.

"Argentina has no plans to change its offer. We made a proposal in Dubai, which is tough, difficult. But it's a proposal that we are in a position to keep," chief of staff Alberto Fernandez told Radio Mitre.

Argentina signed an agreement with the IMF in September rescheduling 21 bln usd in debt.

http://www.iii.co.uk/shares/?type=news&articleid=4840642&action=article

[hadrons]

1. White House urge Buenos Aires to take "difficult decisions" to tackle debt

the mind boggles

[uhhuh]

2. Argentina says to U.S.

We'll deal with our debt when you deal with yours.

[Say_What]

3. Cry for us, Argentina

America's Summit tomorrow in Monterey, Mexico ought to be interesting Bush will be there and is meeting with Argentine pres. Kurchner. Last week the State Dept. thugs pissed off Argentina right after the WH called and asked to meet with Kurchner in Monterey. Kurchner responded with a "we're not a doormat for the US"--the thugs also pissed off Cuba and managed to piss off Venezuela twice in the same week. Tomorrow ought to be interesting.

Wonder when SmirkBoy is gonna take care of his own debt. The US is now the world's largest debtor and the following article speculates what I thought for a while is gonna happen in the US:

<clips>

Analysts shrugged off its large budget and trade deficits; business-friendly, free-market policies would, they insisted, allow the country to grow out of all that.

But when confidence collapsed, that optimism proved foolish. Argentina, once a showpiece for the new world order, quickly became a byword for economic catastrophe.

So what? Those of us who have suggested that the irresponsibility of recent American policy may produce a similar disaster have been dismissed as shrill, even hysterical. (Hey, the market's up, isn't it?)

But few would describe Robert Rubin, the legendary former Treasury secretary, as hysterical: His ability to stay calm in the face of crises, and reassure the markets, was his greatest asset. And Rubin has formally joined the coalition of the shrill.

In a paper presented over the weekend at the meeting of the American Economic Association, Rubin and his co-authors - Peter Orszag of the Brookings Institution and Allan Sinai of Decision Economics - argue along lines that will be familiar to regular readers of my column.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/story/0,4567,104554,00.html