Lorenzino: 'The swap offer is a gesture of good will to creditors'

The government reopened a debt swap launched earlier this year, moving to mop up a remaining $6.1 billion in default and reduce lawsuits against the country.

Finance Secretary Hernan Lorenzino told reporters the swap offer, which ends on Dec. 30, is a gesture of good will to creditors, many of whom have sued Argentina.

"If these people participate in the swap, it's one lawsuit less," he said, adding that the government has not targeted a specific acceptance rate in the debt exchange.

Lorenzino said so-called vulture funds, which try to recover the full value of defaulted bonds through the courts, own about $4 billion of the debt that has not been restructured.

"The offer will take place exclusively within the national borders. The offer and the method will be regulated by the laws of the Argentine Republic," the official gazette said.

Lorenzino added that the country is carrying out this swap on its own and will not have to pay bank commissions.

The government also launched a much smaller operation aimed at cleaning up defaulted Brady bonds before year's end. By law, the government has to finish restructuring its defaulted debt by Dec. 30, 2010, or seek renewed congressional authorization.