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April 2002 G-7
Finance Ministers Concerned About Argentina
VOA
News 20
Apr 2002 17:28 UTC

A day after Argentina
suspended all banking activity, G-7 finance ministers meeting in Washington
have expressed grave concern for the South American nation.
The world's top
finance officials released a plan to improve international bankruptcy
procedures, such as Argentina' massive debt default.
The Argentine crisis
is likely to dominate Saturday's Washington meeting of the International
Monetary Fund. Argentina is seeking a rescue package of several billions of
dollars in IMF loans to lift the country out of deep recession and avert
another outbreak of social unrest. But the IMF has been calling for a
comprehensive deal, including far-ranging reform of public finances in return
for a resumption of loan payments.
Before the talks got
underway Saturday, Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo Rato said he believed the
IMF and Argentina were close to agreement, but cautioned complicated issues
still must be resolved.
On Friday,
Argentina's Central Bank declared a complete and indefinite suspension of all
deposit and foreign exchange operations in an effort to prevent massive flight
of capital from the country. The Central Bank said it needs time to boost the
nation's crumbling financial system.
Some information
for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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