BUENOS AIRES Dec 28 Argentina's new government
is shopping around for a second law firm to help resolve the
country's longstanding battle with creditors suing it over its
unpaid debt, a source in the economy ministry said on Monday.
The center-right government of Mauricio Macri will publicly
launch its search on Tuesday for a new firm based in New York
City to work together with Cleary Gottlieb Steen Hamilton LLP,
said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Argentina and the so-called "holdout" bondholders plan to
meet in the second week of January to start talks toward
settling the legal dispute that stems from the country's $100
billion default in 2002.
The source said the government expects the negotiations with
bondholders to be tough.
Macri has expressed confidence that a deal can be reached in
2016. Doing so would allow Argentina, a financial markets
pariah, to regain access to global credit markets and ease an
acute shortage of hard currency in Latin America's third biggest
economy.
(Reporting By Jorge Otaola, Writing by Mitra Taj; Editing by
David Gregorio)