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 The economy ministry issued a statement on Sunday, saying it had
received offers of credit from abroad. It did not name the
institutions.
"In recent weeks ... various financial institutions have presented
proposals of access to external financing with repayment timetables
and interest rates similar to those offered to other countries in
the region," it said.
It would be the first time Argentina has received loans from
international creditors since a massive default in 2002.
The offers followed Argentina's $5 billion settlement with Spain's
Repsol <REP.MC> over its expropriation of YPF and progress on talks
to repay over the $9.5 billion Caracas owes the Paris Club creditor
nations, said the ministry.
The statement followed an earlier report in local newspaper Pagina/12
that the government was closing in on a deal to receive around $1
billion in loans from investment bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N> and had
been approached by other lenders.
The paper, which has close ties with the government of President
Cristina Fernandez, said the two-year loan would be announced in the
next few days and carry an annual interest rate of 6.5 percent.
Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
The loans would come as the government seeks cash to avoid a further
devaluation of the peso and increase its depleted foreign exchange
reserves.
Dollars have been scarce in Argentina due to capital flight, weak
exports, and low competitiveness because of high inflation.
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The government hopes securing the Goldman Sachs loan would
demonstrate that its strategy of thawing relations with
international creditors was starting to take effect, said the paper.
Argentina has already offered to repay the debt it owes the Paris
Club, which stems from the 2002 default.
The club had accepted Argentina's initial proposal to pay back the
funds without recourse to the International Monetary Fund and to
request credit lines from the countries it owed money to, Pagina/12
said in a separate report on Sunday.
Talks were continuing over the repayment terms, it added.
The economy ministry also on Sunday restated its intention not to
issue debt in foreign currency.
(Reporting by Maximiliano Rizzi, additional reporting by Lauren
LaCapra; writing by Rosalba O'Brien; editing by Sophie Hares and
Sandra Maler)
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