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ATFA Requests Executive Branch Action in Response to Anticipated Argentine Loan Request from World Bank, IDB
Press Release
August 20, 2007

Outlines Seven Recommendations to Departments of State, Treasury in Bilateral Relations with Argentina

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, the American Task Force Argentina (ATFA) announced that Co-chairs Dr. Robert Shapiro and Ambassador Nancy Soderberg appealed to State Department Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Department Secretary Henry Paulson to adopt several measures in advance of an anticipated Argentine government World Bank or IDB loan request of $1 billion, including by voting against Argentina loan requests until the Government of Argentina honors its obligations to American bondholders.

In an August 16 letter to Secretaries Rice and Paulson, Shapiro and Soderberg asked that the Departments of State and Treasury use their voting power at various multilateral lending bodies to intensify efforts to persuade Argentina to repay American creditors, suggesting that the Administration:

"Instruct U.S. executive directors at the multilateral development banks to use their voices and votes to deny access to loans to Argentina and its agencies, instrumentalities, or political subdivisions, until this matter is resolved. We ask that this policy be put in place when U.S. representatives at the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank consider future loan requests from the Government of Argentina, including a reported $1 billion request to these institutions anticipated over the coming days."

As the World Bank's largest contributor, the U.S. controls 17% of the vote, sufficient to veto decisions which require an 85% majority.

The letter also acknowledges Argentina's record economic recovery as a means to resolve the bondholder issue:

"The boom in global commodity markets has enabled the Argentine government to accumulate international reserves in excess of $44 billion, more than seven times what is owed to American holders of repudiated debt and twice what it owes all of its creditors."

To view the ATFA letter to Secretaries Rice and Paulson, visit www.atfa.org/news.

ATFA, through a variety of events and research initiatives, works to encourage the United States government and other Argentine debt stakeholders to take action on behalf of American taxpayers, businesses and bondholders. ATFA's website, www.atfa.org, serves as a clearinghouse for news and information related to Argentina's restructuring and the ATFA's efforts.

Made up of major creditor groups, the ATFA is co-chaired by The Honorable Robert J. Shapiro, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in the Clinton Administration, and Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, Ambassador at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1997 to 2001. For more information on ATFA, please visit www.atfa.org.

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